Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Voters Reject Jail Sales Tax as Mayo Leads County Race by 67 Votes

Oklahoma County voters rejected a 25 year sales tax for the new county jail on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and gave Democrats a sweep of the countywide races on the ballot, with the closest finish in a commission race that decides control of the board.

With all precincts reporting, 139,181 voters, or 62.3 percent, opposed the 0.40 percent jail sales tax, and 84,143 voters, or 37.7 percent, supported it, according to unofficial State Election Board results reported by Oklahoma Politics Today. News 9 put the share against the tax at 62.32 percent.

A jail plan without its tax

Voters approved 260 million dollars in bonds for a replacement jail in 2022, but the projected cost of the project has since grown to more than 800 million dollars. The proposed tax was expected to raise about 70 million dollars a year, with much of the money used to finance construction and the rest available for jail operations, diversion and mental health programs.

The rejection leaves county officials without the dedicated revenue source they proposed to complete and operate the new detention center. Officials have said they could eventually have to scale back or halt the project, find another source of revenue, or return to voters with a different proposal.

Sixty seven votes for the commission

Democrat Jennifer Mayo finished election night 67 votes ahead of Republican Jessica Clayton in the open District 3 County Commission race. With all 97 precincts in the district reporting, Mayo received 49,288 votes to Clayton's 49,221, according to unofficial results reported by both Oklahoma Politics Today and The Oklahoman.

The race matters beyond one seat. Democrat Jason Lowe represents District 1 and Republican Brian Maughan represents District 2, so the District 3 winner determines which party controls the three member commission. The seat opened after Republican Myles Davidson resigned earlier this year. News 9 reported that a Mayo win gives Democrats control of the board for the first time since 1978. The election night totals are unofficial and do not include provisional ballots, which are considered before certification.

Democrats also win assessor and treasurer

Democrat John Gibbons defeated Republican incumbent Larry Stein for county assessor. With all 290 precincts reporting, Gibbons received 121,794 votes, or 53.8 percent, to Stein's 104,554 votes, or 46.2 percent. Stein had served as assessor since 2019 after more than 17 years as chief deputy assessor.

Democrat Jessica Thompson won the open county treasurer race over Republican Christie Miller, with 127,692 votes, or 56.5 percent, to Miller's 98,214 votes, or 43.5 percent. Miller is the longtime chief deputy and comptroller in the treasurer's office and had the backing of retiring Treasurer Butch Freeman. All of the county results remain unofficial until certification.