Two Republicans, Pat Masker and Bob Colbert, are seeking the Wagoner County sheriff’s job. The winner of Tuesday’s primary election will face Democrat Johnny Cannon, who has 38 years of law enforcement experience and is serving his first four-year term.

The job pays $56,013 per year.

Masker and Colbert say the sheriff’s department needs to change.

Colbert said the county needs a department “they can be proud of.”

“I will bring experience, fairness and integrity to the position,” he said.

Masker said the department needs a sheriff “with new visions, ideas and focus to serve and preserve the public’s right to safety as well as the safety of the officers.”

“I want to make the sheriff’s office professional, personable and accountable to the citizens of Wagoner County,” she said.

Masker said she wants the department to regain trust of the public and other agencies.

“I believe the sheriff needs to be more proactive in the involvement of implementing programs that will benefit the children, the elderly and victims of violent and nonviolent crimes,” she said.

Colbert said drug enforcement must be a priority for the sheriff’s department.

“The law should apply to everyone,” he said. “Favoritism and the good old boy system should be made a thing of the past,” he said. “I feel the experience I’ve gained in my career has prepared me to lead the sheriff’s department into the 21st century.”

Colbert cites his “involvement in every aspect of law enforcement” as his main qualification to run. He said that in Claremore he was involved in the hiring of officers and “all the administrative duties that come with that.”

He spent 23 years as a trooper with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, including six years in the Criminal Interdiction Unit where he said his job “was to take illegal drugs off the streets.”