Three-way race for District 1 commissioner pits Cavett's record against two challengers with different visions
Harper says the county needs someone ready to work. Presuhn says it needs a plan — and a fresh set of eyes
Payne County Commissioner Zach Cavett is seeking his fourth term in District 1, facing two challengers who say the district needs new leadership — but who offer starkly different cases for why.
Cavett, 47, of Glencoe, has held the seat since 2012. He faces Ray Harper, 66, of Glencoe, a 27-year Mercury Marine veteran and current aerospace industry worker, and Jacob Presuhn, 31, of Ripley, a current Payne County District 3 equipment operator. No Democrat or independent filed, making the Republican primary winner the next District 1 commissioner.
Cavett: relationships and outside funding
Cavett has built his campaign around a simple argument: he has spent nearly 30 years working in county government, built relationships that produce results, and brought in outside money that wouldn't have come without sustained effort.
"I've brought in on average over $1 million per year of outside funds since 2012 to aid in improving our infrastructure," he said in a Cushing Chamber of Commerce Facebook video interview with Chamber President Tracy Caulfield — a total he put at close to $16 million over 14 years.
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His signature ongoing projects are tribal bridge partnerships he has developed with the Pawnee Nation and the Sac and Fox Nation. The Pawnee Nation is paying to build seven bridges within their tribal territory in eastern Payne County — roughly $7 million in outside funding — while the Sac and Fox Nation has committed to three additional bridges near Cushing. Sac and Fox has previously contributed approximately $1.6 million to road infrastructure in eastern Payne County, according to Cavett.
He also helped lead the effort to redirect the county's quarter-cent sales tax — which had been paying off the jail — into a road tax when the jail was paid off, generating roughly $4 million per year per district for road improvements. He pointed to Pawnee County, which has been turning paved roads back to gravel without similar funding, as an example of what happens without that revenue.
Cavett has also developed an industrial access permit system that requires companies bringing heavy truck traffic onto county roads to document road conditions before and after work — using dashcam footage — so the county can assess repair costs. He described the commissioner role at the GOP forum as a "customer service position" and said he refers to resident calls as requests, not complaints.
On the Google data center PILOT vote — a 25-year tax deferment the county commission approved in January 2025 — Cavett stood by his yes vote at the GOP forum. He said five separate boards voted on the question, all others voted in favor, and the choice was between receiving less than $100 annually in taxes on the undeveloped land or $1 million per year once the data center is operational. "With the information I had at that time, I do stand by that vote," he said.
Harper: ready to work
Harper frames his candidacy around availability and work ethic rather than policy specifics. "I'm ready to go to work, 24 hours a day if I have to," he said in his closing statement at the GOP forum. His campaign tagline — Less Talk, More Doing — is printed prominently on his campaign flier and Facebook page.
Harper spent 27 years at Mercury Marine and 10 years at ASCO and currently works for an aerospace company in Stillwater. He said in a Cushing Chamber of Commerce Facebook video interview with Chamber President Tracy Caulfield that he leaves for work at 3 a.m. and never knows when he'll be home. "That's exactly what I want to do with the county," he said. "Stay busy, get things done."
His specific road concerns center on drainage and safety. He noted standing water on highways coming into Cushing and said constituents have told him old Highway 51 needs to be widened — a project he acknowledged would require significant funding and state legislative action.
Harper addressed his family relationship with Payne County Sheriff Joe Harper directly in a June 12 Facebook post, writing that he consulted "appropriate authorities" before announcing his candidacy and was told there were no legal or ethical concerns. "I will make decisions independently and in the best interest of the citizens of Payne County," he wrote. He noted that family members holding different elected county offices is "neither uncommon nor prohibited."
Commissioners serve on the budget board that approves every county expenditure, including the sheriff's office budget.
On the Google data center PILOT vote, Harper said at the GOP forum that he does not think tax deferment is a good idea and that the county needs to be selective about which companies it welcomes.
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Presuhn: baseline assessment and transparency
Presuhn, the youngest of the three candidates, is making his first run for office with a background in hospital maintenance and, most recently, county road work — he has been employed by District 3 since October and works as an equipment operator under Commissioner Markum.
His central campaign proposal is a performance-based road assessment — getting a baseline picture of every road in the district, creating a prioritized improvement plan, and communicating that plan publicly. "My first priority is going to be to get a feel for where every road in our district needs to be to have a starting point," he said at the GOP forum.
Transparency is his second stated priority. He argued at the GOP forum that residents should not have to file open records requests to find out where their money is going — that information should be posted proactively on county websites and social media.
On failing asphalt roads, he said the district needs long-term solutions rather than cold-patch fixes. "My goal is to rip the band-aids off," he said in a Cushing Chamber of Commerce Facebook video interview with Chamber President Tracy Caulfield. "Let's get things done how they need to be long-term."
Presuhn acknowledged at both the Cushing Chamber interview and the GOP forum that he is new to county work and would lean on others to learn the administrative side of the job. "I'm not going to make any promises except to show up and go to work for our people," he said at the Cushing Chamber interview.
On the Google data center PILOT vote, Presuhn said at the GOP forum that tax deferment "usually doesn't stand in favor of our county" and expressed regret about the vote without having full details on it.
All three candidates said they oppose countywide zoning, though Cavett noted that if constituents pushed for it, the proper course would be a public vote rather than a unilateral commissioner decision.
Voting information
The June 16 primary is Tuesday. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Voters can find their polling place at the Oklahoma State Election Board's voter portal at okvoterportal.okelections.gov.
Sources: Payne County Republican Party candidate forum, Thursday, June 11, 2026, Stillwater Community Center; Stillwater Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon, Friday, June 12, 2026; Cushing Chamber of Commerce Facebook video interviews with President Tracy Caulfield; Ray Harper campaign Facebook page.
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