Incumbent Stephen Wright, D-Porum, said his experience both before and during his four years as county commissioner makes him the most qualified candidate.

“I’m a life-long resident of Muskogee County,” he said. “I’ve had over 35 years operating heavy equipment, road surface maintenance and repair, and the last four years, of course, as District 2 commissioner.”

The primary election is Tuesday and pits Wright against three other Democrats: Mark Breedlove of Porum; Ronnie Pevehouse of Webbers Falls; and Roscoe Duke of Warner. No Republicans are running. The runoff will be Aug. 28.

Wright said he has experience working with grants and bridge building while staying within a budget and gets along well with other agencies and county officials.

Over the last four years, Wright said he’s accomplished much in the county and kept the budget balanced to a “T.”

“Ever since I’ve been in office we have balanced the budget to the penny,” Wright said. “And that’s important because we’re (county commissioners) the chief financial officers of the county.”

Wright said a lot has been accomplished in the last four years.

“We’ve built six new bridges, poured decks on several wood bridges, poured low-water crossings and installed many horns for drainage,” he said. “We’ve overlaid 5 1/4 miles of McClain Road and all of Coffey Road.”

Wright said he’s weathered three major weather disasters over the last four years with no problems.

Wright said he’s “got a commitment from the Cherokee Nation to help repave all of Ross Road.”

“And we’ve got other bridges that I’d like to see built,” he said. “We’re also going to overlay as many (roads) as we can as long as our budget holds out.”

Reach Wendy Burton at (918) 684-2926 or wburton@muskogeephoenix.com.

Meet Stephen Wright



OFFICE SOUGHT: County Commissioner District 2.

AGE: 55.

HOMETOWN: Porum.

FAMILY: Wife Roberta, son Hayden.

OCCUPATION: County Commissioner District 2.

EDUCATION: 1975 graduate of Porum High School, Oklahoma Miners School 1986, C lab tech certification from Rogers State College 1992, B lab tech certification from Carl Albert State College 2002, wastewater lab certification Sapulpa Vocational Center 2005.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Christian.

HOBBIES: Riding horses and playing golf, hunting and fishing.

Candidates for County Commissioner District 2

• Stephen Wright, D-Porum (i).

• Ronnie Pevehouse, D-Webbers Falls.

• Mark Breedlove, D-Porum.

• Roscoe Duke, D-Warner.