Clinton, Oklahoma — November 4, 2026
Clinton will have a new mayor. Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election show Ward 2 Councilman Ernie Dowdell defeating incumbent Mayor David Berrong 1,072 to 841, according to (The Clinton Daily News, Nov. 3). In the Ward 4 council race, Lucas Martinez defeated Bobby Stewart 193 to 90. Both results are unofficial until the county election board certifies them — certification for county results can come no earlier than Friday, Nov. 6 — but the margins leave little doubt about the direction Clinton voters chose.
A $33.5 million water investment is headed to Custer County. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Nov. 2 that the Foss Reservoir Master Conservancy District will receive $33.5 million to restore its pre-treatment water plant, a plant that supplies wholesale water to Bessie, Clinton, Hobart, and New Cordell (USDA Rural Development, Nov. 2). For a town that has spent years talking about water and infrastructure — Dowdell made both central to his campaign — this is the kind of money that actually moves pipes, plants, and plans.
The Red Tornadoes are rolling into their finale. Clinton beat Elk City 42-21 at Elk City on Friday, Oct. 30, improving to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in District 4A-1, on a four-game win streak. Weatherford sits atop the district at 6-0, Clinton second at 4-1, and Bethany third at 3-2. Clinton closes the regular season Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. against Douglass of Oklahoma City (0-9) at the Tornado Bowl — a district game, and a home finale worth showing up for. Clinton is ranked No. 11 in Class 4A, per MaxPreps (Oct. 31). Note: some stale schedule listings show the Douglass game on Thursday, Nov. 5; the current MaxPreps listing says Friday, Nov. 6, so check the school page before you head out.
Clinton’s sales-tax check jumped sharply. The city took in a combined $735,053.25 in the October distribution, up 36.6% from $538,111.36 in October 2025 — a gain of roughly $197,000, and the biggest percentage gain among the mid-size towns in the corridor. “Combined” matters here because Clinton straddles two counties, Custer and Washita. The October distribution mostly reflects August sales. For comparison, Elk City was up 12% and Weatherford up 24% in the same distribution, while Sayre was the only corridor town to slip. Source: Kool 94 / The Penny News, Oct. 28 (citation left unlinked — see report note).
A shooting at a Clinton apartment complex left two people injured. An Elk City man was arrested after the shooting, which left one man in critical condition as of Oct. 29, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Custer County District Court (The Penny News, Nov. 3). The item published by The Penny News does not name the arrested man or detail the charges in the summary available, so this article does not add names or charges that were not in that source. It is a sobering reminder, the week Clinton chose new leadership, that public safety stays on the front burner no matter who holds the gavel.
Community and regional activity
The Foss Reservoir money is the biggest regional story of the week, and it is worth understanding what it is — and is not. It restores a pre-treatment plant, the step that gets raw reservoir water ready before it reaches the towns that depend on it. It is not a new lake, and it is not a promise of lower water bills by itself. But for four western Oklahoma communities that share one water system, a restored plant is the unglamorous infrastructure that keeps taps running, and it lands in the same conversation Dowdell was having all fall about a 5-, 10-, and 20-year plan for water, infrastructure, and economic development.
Clinton’s other big infrastructure story is still Route 66, and the centennial clock is now measured in days, not years. Route 66 turns 100 on Nov. 11. The Hub City Gateway — the roughly 400-foot, double-sided sign and art structure planned over an original 1926 stretch of Route 66 on Clinton’s east side near the Washita River bridge, spelling “Clinton” one way and “Route 66” the other — is still working through design, land, and steel-sourcing questions, with no completion date announced. The $968,500 Project 66 grant behind it went to West OK Co-Op (The Penny News). Firehouse 66, the plan to turn the WPA-era former fire station at 523 W. Gary Blvd. (1939) into a visitor center and event space with a $656,928 Project 66 grant, likewise has no confirmed opening timeline — do not expect a ribbon-cutting this week. The Glancy Motor Hotel neon sign restoration, a $71,505 grant to Friends of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, ties to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol vacating its old property next door; the patrol’s new Troop H headquarters in Clinton — a 7,500-square-foot building on Gary Boulevard on city-donated land, about $3 million — had its grand opening Oct. 14.
One practical centennial note: the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, at 2229 W. Gary Blvd., is closed on Nov. 11, a state holiday, even though that is the highway’s 100th birthday. Its November hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Mondays. The state’s official centennial celebration is in Tulsa, and no Clinton-specific Nov. 11 event was found. Veterans and active military get free museum admission on open days.
Politics
The mayor’s race was the race Clinton talked about all fall, and Tuesday settled it. Dowdell, the sitting Ward 2 councilman, announced Aug. 27 on a platform of fresh leadership and accountability: a long-range plan for water, infrastructure, and economic development; business recruitment and sales-tax growth; a review of fees and utilities; grants; and simpler permits. Berrong, a third-generation Clintonian who has been mayor about eight years and was returned in November 2024 with about 68%, ran as the incumbent. The candidates met voters at a Frisco Center forum luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 29 (Clinton Daily News, Oct. 31 — citation left unlinked, see report note).
Ward 4 was the quieter race with its own wrinkle: both candidates are former Ward 4 councilmen running to return to a seat held by Arthur Lloyd, who was not in the race. Stewart won the seat in a November 2016 runoff and lost a narrow 2024 rematch to Lloyd, 182 to 173. Martinez won Tuesday, 193 to 90, unofficially. The council is a council-manager government that meets on the first and third Tuesdays, typically at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Room at City Hall, 415 W. Gary Blvd. By that pattern, the next meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 17, though it had not been posted as of Nov. 1. City Manager Robert Johnston remains in place, and the new mayor and new Ward 4 councilman will now have to turn campaign talk about water, permits, and grants into council votes.
There was no Clinton city proposition on Tuesday’s ballot. And there were no contested Custer County offices for Clinton voters to decide, either: as this site’s voter guide explained, candidates who filed unopposed are declared elected without appearing on the ballot, and primary winners with no general-election opponent are in the same position. That is why Tuesday’s local ballot was, in effect, mayor plus Ward 4 — plus everything above them.
Statewide, the picture Tuesday night was still partial, and this article will not call races that had not been called. State Question 845, which would have changed how members of Oklahoma’s Judicial Nominating Commission are appointed, was rejected: the Associated Press called it, with “No” at 514,408 votes to “Yes” at 194,711 with 72.38% of precincts reporting (Associated Press, Nov. 3). State Question 847, which would lower the annual property-assessment increase cap, was too early to call at the same reporting point, with “No” leading 383,978 to “Yes” 330,032 (Associated Press, Nov. 3). In the governor’s race, Republican Mike Mazzei led Democrat Cyndi Munson 423,355 to 329,284 with 74.8% of precincts reporting, but the race was too early to call at that point (Associated Press, Nov. 3) — so no winner is declared here. Republican Congressman Kevin Hern won the U.S. Senate seat over Democrat N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, and Republican incumbent Frank Lucas retained the 3rd Congressional District seat covering this corridor (The Oklahoman, Nov. 3; The Oklahoman, Nov. 3). All statewide results remain unofficial until certification — county certification no earlier than Nov. 6, state and federal certification Nov. 10, per The Oklahoman’s election-night reporting. If the governor’s race or SQ 847 resolves after this post goes live, that update belongs in a follow-up, not in a retroactive rewrite of Tuesday night’s numbers.
Events
This is a thin, school-driven week, so plan around the schools and the library — and note the Veterans Day wrinkle at the end.
- Wednesday, Nov. 4: Pathways Connections, 12 p.m., Clinton Public Library, 721 Frisco Ave. (listed by Western Plains Library System; calling the library at 580-323-2165 to confirm is wise). Clinton High School juniors are on an Oklahoma State University tour.
- Thursday, Nov. 5: 7th, 8th, and 9th grade girls basketball vs. Woodward, 4:30–7:30 p.m., at home; boys play at Woodward at the same times. STEAM Camp: Leaf String Art, 4 p.m., at the library. A Southwestern Oklahoma State University Engineering Day trip to Weatherford.
- Friday, Nov. 6: Football vs. Douglass, 7 p.m., Tornado Bowl — the regular-season finale (see the Nov. 5 vs. Nov. 6 schedule note above).
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Clinton High School Choir Pumpkin Roll Making Day at the school, a fundraiser prep day. Clinton High School Cheer at Game Day Regionals at Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City; Clinton competes at 12:35 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 9: Western Plains Library System Bookmobile at the Clinton Veterans Center, 2 p.m. Junior-high basketball vs. Elk City, home/away split — check the district calendar.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10: Storytime, 10 a.m., library. “As the Page Turns” book club: Books Set in Oklahoma, 7 p.m., library. Bookmobile at River Valley Nursing Home, 9 a.m.
Box it for Wednesday, Nov. 11 — Veterans Day: School is in session. Nance Elementary Veterans Day Assembly, 10–10:30 a.m.; assembly at the Tornado Dome, 1–2 p.m. All Western Plains libraries are closed. And as noted above, the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum is closed Nov. 11, even though Route 66 turns 100 that day. Coming soon after: the Clinton Archery “C-Town Shootout,” Nov. 13–14 (probable). No Chamber events, Frisco Center public events, church bazaars, or Southwest Playhouse performances were found in this window.
Gossip Corner
The “Clinton ok rant and rave” group is small — about 357 members — and this week it felt like it: quality over quantity, and mostly food, dogs, and a yard sale. The talkable item was the Leavora Seafood Truck Express at the Atwoods parking lot on Sunday, Nov. 1 — shrimp and crab boils, lobster tails, fried fish — with a follow-up that evening that dinner was ready in the Atwoods lot. Eight comments on the first post, which for this group counts as a crowd.
The thread that tugged hardest had no answer at all: “Has the dog Mac ever been found?” posted Oct. 30, with no replies shown. If you know, say so — somebody is still wondering. In the same spirit, a gorgeous dog was reported running around the 500 block of 10th Street on Oct. 26, with the poster’s honest confession that “of course my wife fed it.” And on Oct. 25, a yard sale at 423 South 7th offered furniture, tools, and washtubs.
One honest note: the larger Clinton group, “All Things Clinton, OK” (about 5,000 members), is private, and this site is not a member, so its posts could not be read for this edition. What is here is what the smaller, open group actually talked about — and this week, that was mostly a seafood truck, two dogs, and a yard sale. That is Clinton in a quiet week, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Election results in this post are unofficial, as reported Tuesday night. County certification can come no earlier than Nov. 6, and state and federal certification is Nov. 10. Figures for statewide races reflect partial precinct reporting at the time they were checked and may change as counting continues.