Kingfisher city voters selected civil engineer Geoff Covalt to succeed Richard Ray Reynolds in another low turnout election Tuesday.

Covalt carried 154 of the 225 votes cast in the runoff election (68.4%) while his opponent Kaci Farrar, executive director of Countrywood Assisted Living Center, carried 71 votes (31.6%).

Coincidentally, the same total number of votes were cast in the May special election to approve the designated sales tax for a new fire department and street improvements.

April’s general municipal election, a three-way race between Covalt, Farrar and incumbent Reynolds, drew 512 total votes, with Covalt and Farrar the top vote-getters.

“I’m deeply humbled and honored to serve in this capacity and I’m looking forward to it for sure,” Covalt said Thursday. “Obviously, I’ve got a learning curve. I’ve gotten a copy of the commissioners’ handbook and have been sent some other things that I’m trying to absorb over the next few days.”

With more than 25 years in engineering and construction, much of that working directly in or consulting with the public sector at all levels of government, Covalt also brings a significant body of knowledge to his elected post.

“I have participated in a few government meetings over my career at all different levels,” he said. “I worked as a consulting engineer in the Texas panhandle when I was first out of college and we worked with mostly pretty small cities in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

“I think that will benefit me to know how those boards worked.

“I have some ideas about how we can move Kingfisher forward, but obviously I need to learn some things too about how Kingfisher does business.

“I’m looking forward to finding out how I can contribute to the best of my ability.”

Covalt and his wife Shana have three children. Their daughter Reagan is a registered nurse at The Children’s Center in Bethany and recently purchased a home in Kingfisher with her husband Lane Graham. Their son Cooper is a 2019 Kingfisher High School graduate studying horticulture at Oklahoma State University and youngest son Cade is a KHS sophomore.

Reynolds will formally step down at next month’s city commission meeting, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, and Covalt will be sworn into office to start his four-year term.

Covalt will join Mayor Roxie Alexander, Vice Mayor Wendell Prim and fellow commissioners Bill Tucker and Kyle Mecklenburg.

Vote by Precinct

Precinct 101 (Kingfisher Memorial Library) – Covalt, 58; Farrar, 35.

Precinct 301 (Senior Citizens Center) – Covalt, 96; Farrar, 36.