Kevin Hern visits Guymon, urges votes in Texas County primary

Kevin Hern came to Guymon as Texas County voters were already casting ballots in Oklahoma’s June 16 primary, putting the Republican Senate candidate in front of the county’s producers, business owners and community members before early voting ended Saturday afternoon. In a county where agriculture, cattle, hogs and pork processing drive the economy, the visit put federal policy questions squarely in front of local voters.

Texas County is Oklahoma’s second-largest county by land area and had 21,384 residents in the 2020 Census. Guymon, the county seat and the largest city in the Oklahoma Panhandle, had 12,965 residents and serves as the center of local election activity through the Texas County Election Board.

Early voting for the primary ran June 11 through June 13. Polling places were open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 11 and June 12, then from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 13. Oklahoma voters had to cast ballots in the county where they were registered, and sample ballots were available through the OK Voter Portal.

Hern, who serves in the U.S. House of Representatives, launched his Senate bid in March and entered the Republican primary with Donald Trump’s endorsement. His stop in Guymon came as he sought support in rural counties that can shape the outcome of a crowded GOP race for U.S. Senate.

That rural pitch carried added weight in Texas County, where federal agricultural research says Guymon is home to the region’s largest swine processing plant. The local economy also sits alongside long-running concern over groundwater depletion tied to agricultural and industrial water use, giving voters here a direct stake in how Washington handles regulation, labor and trade.

For Hern, the challenge in Guymon was not just to ask for votes, but to show Texas County he had specific answers for the employers and producers who keep the county moving. With ballots already being cast and the primary only days away, local voters had little time to judge how much he said, and how much he left unsaid, before Election Day.