Two Republicans Enter Race For OK County Sheriff

Within hours of the announced retirement of Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel, a few people threw their names into the hat to run for his seat.

Former State Rep. Mike Christian made his formal announcement Thursday morning.

“I’ll be asking you for your vote. Remember, if you live in this county, you’re the boss,” said Christian.

Christian is also a retired Oklahoma State Trooper. In the 2016 election, he was in the final running against Whetsel. Christian came in close, losing by less than 10,000 votes. Now that Whetsel is retiring, he said he is ready to get back in the race and fix major issues within the county.

“We’ve got a jail that is probably one of the worst jails in the country,” said Christian. He refers to the Oklahoma County Jail as the “Tower of Terror,” proposing ideas to fix the infrastructure and the mental health issues within the system.

Another Republican is also jumping in the special election. Darrell Sorrels is currently a Special Deputy contracted with the U.S. Marshals Service. He also ran against Sheriff Whetsel in 2012.

“My official announcement is that I will be running for Sheriff,” said Sorrels. He said he has knowledge of the jail and operations at the Sheriff’s Office, being that he worked there for fifteen years.

Sorrels served an additional six years in other police agencies and 18 years in safety and security.

“I felt like I had solutions that a new administration, people that I would put in place would work hard to alleviate some of the issues,” Sorrels said.

Whetsel will retire at 5 p.m. on March 1. Gov. Mary Fallin has 30 days after his retirement to set a date for the special election.