Early voting opens today for school board election, Ward 2 runoff

Mar. 28—Early voting for Tuesday's municipal election opens today.

The April 2 ballot includes the race for Office 4 on the Norman Public Schools Board of Education and the runoff race for Ward 2 of the Norman City Council. In-person absentee voting is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Friday.

On Tuesday, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For early voting, residents should go to the Cleveland County Election Board at 641 E. Robinson St.; for regular voting, residents can check okvoterportal.okelections.us to see their polling place.

The Ward 2 runoff pits Matt Peacock, who currently represents Ward 8 on the City Council, against Russell Rice. Rice led the field in the initial Ward 2 election, capturing 32.7% of the vote. Peacock received 27.4%.

Out of Ward 2's 9,607 registered voters, 1,796 made it to the polls for the initial election, a turnout rate just shy of 19%.

Rice is the co-founder of Norman Care-A-Vans, which provides shuttle services for unhoused individuals. He is also involved in other community organizing efforts, including Red Dirt Collective, the Citizen's Public Safety Sales Tax Oversight Committee, and the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Rice's platform includes promoting affordable housing, expanding public transport and implementing solutions to address homelessness. He says his experience with Care-A-Vans has shown him firsthand how to help the unhoused community.

"For those already unhoused we need a permanent homeless shelter and actual affordable housing that is safe, fair, and sanitary. For those at risk of becoming homeless, policies that help them will help all Norman citizens: transportation, food pantries, access to mental health and substance abuse services, and access to affordable housing," Rice told The Transcript in December.

Peacock is an architect who has served on City Council since 2020. He cited a sense of unfinished business as one of his motivations for running again.

Peacock's passion is "placemaking," public space planning that aims to strengthen the connection between people and their physical surroundings. For Peacock, that includes promoting walkability, developing land efficiently and promoting Norman's arts and culture scene.

During his time on Council, Peacock has pushed to abolish parking requirements, fund a small business incubator for women and implement pattern zoning to make housing more accessible.

"I really tried to put my money where my mouth is, both for my private practice and from my councilmember perspective. So I really use that foundation daily to kind of expand those concepts to other parts of Norman, not just the core area," he said.

The Board of Education election features Dawn Brockman and Scott Christian.

Brockman is currently the dean of students at the University of Arts and Sciences of Oklahoma. She has an extensive background in education, including teaching in Moore and Putnam City's public school districts, working as an attorney for the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, and serving as executive director for the Oklahoma Association of Student Councils.

She also taught at Norman High School for 14 years. She has lived in Norman since graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1993.

"I have a very eclectic background starting off as a Latin teacher," Brockman told The Transcript in January. "I think that right now it's more important than ever who serves on school boards."

Christian was raised in Norman, where he attended Monroe Elementary, Whittier Middle School and Norman High School before attending Northern Oklahoma College and Southwestern Oklahoma State University to get a degree in business administration.

Christian is now a commercial lender for Prosperity Bank, and he also co-owns a fitness studio with his wife.

He says Norman Public Schools needs to be more competitive with private schools and other public school districts.

"Whether people like it or not, the school choice initiatives brought down from the State [Department of Education], we need to decide how we can make Norman the choice for parents, myself included, at a time where people are leaving the district," Christian said.