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  • From left, Beulah Stacks, Democratic members of he Pittsburg County Election Board, stands by while Millie Nichols, of Pittsburg County Precinct 1 at the J.I. Stipe Recreation Center, returns a ballot box at the county election board offices Tuesday night, while Pittsburg County Election Board Secretary Cathy Thornton assists. Photo by Kevin Harvison

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  • Mark Costello, the Republican candidate who won the state Labor Commissioner’s post Tuesday night, holds a guitar while in McAlester on Thursday, signed by rodeo star and performing artist Colby Yates, endorsing Costello for the labor commissioner’s post. Costello said he’d made three promises: “I’ll take no lobbyist money; I’ll take no political action money and I’ll take no guitars” — a jab at Democratic incumbent Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields, the former state rep. for McAlester, who was stopped by security officers in 2008 leaving the Cox Center with Yates’ highly-valued Taylor guitar. Costello, who carried Pittsburg County in the Tuesday election, said you need a sense of humor to be a public official. Photo by James Beaty

    Costello
November 3, 2010

McAlester area voters turn to the GOP

By James Beaty Senior Editor

McALESTER — Pittsburg County voters voted almost across-the-board for state Republican candidates Tuesday night, with District 17 state Rep. Dr. Brian Renegar, D-Blanco, one of the few Democrats to carry the county.

Donnie Condit, of McAlester, the Democratic candidate for the District 18 state representative’s post, barley edged Republican Kyle Burmeier to win the race when returns from Pittsburg and McIntosh counties were combined.

In the District 18 state House race for the seat previously held by Democrat Terry Harrison, Burmeier carried Pittsburg County, but Condit won McIntosh County by a wide enough margin to win by 108 votes when all the ballots were tallied.

In Pittsburg County, Burmeier received 3,174 votes, compared to 2,886 for Condit.

When the McIntosh County ballots were totaled, Condit received 1,930 votes, compared to 1,534 for Burmeier.

When total votes for the two counties were tallied, Condit had a total of 4,816 votes, while Burmeier had a two-county total of 4,708. That proved enough for Condit to win by the 108-vote margin, or with 50.57 percent of the ballots, compared to 49.43 percent for Burmeier.

In the District 17 state representative’s race, incumbent Democrat Renegar carried Pittsburg County with 3,458 ballots, compared to 2,468 for Republican challenger Micah Thompson.

When votes for all of District 17 were tallied, including the votes from  Latimer County, Renegar had a total of 5,739 ballots, or 57.89 percent of the vote, compared to 42.11 percent for Thompson.

Pittsburg County voters rejected State Question 744, the controversial school funding measure, with 9,814 “no” votes, compared to 2,423 ballots marked “yes.”

For more on this story, see Wednesday's print edition of the McAlester News-Capital.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.

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