School Board Candidate Drops Out, Runoff Election Still On

By Kirsten McIntyre, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma City School Board runoff election must go on, despite one of the candidates saying he no longer wants the job. The election will cost the district $14,000.

Larry Collins and Ron Millican will face each other April 6. Millican said Collins has decided the job would take up too much of his time. Collins has reportedly endorsed Millican in the election, even though campaign signs are still posted in his yard.

"It's quite frustrating because we're still going to have to campaign, we're still going to have to make the calls and get our people out to vote," Millican said.

Doug Sanderson, secretary of the Oklahoma County Election Board, said the election must go on due to state law. He said if Collins wanted to drop out of the race, he was required to do so three days after the primary election on February 9. Collins missed that deadline and state law requires the election move forward.

"Where you have candidates, you have to have a deadline, and there has to be a point of no return. We have to make preparations, we have to a have a certain amount of time to make those preparations and we just have to go forward," Sanderson said.

Sanderson said there's a lot of planning that goes into election, which is why there has to be a point of no return.

"We have to think of terms of the ballots, people who are working, which precincts are open which are not," Sanderson said.

Larry Collins could not be reached for comment.

Collins and Millican defeated incumbent Wilfredo Santos-Rivera for the District 7 seat of the Oklahoma City School Board.