Patty Miller The Edmond Sun The Edmond Sun Wed Nov 03, 2010, 03:03 AM CDT   November 2, 2010

EDMOND — Incumbent Republican District 3 County Commissioner Raymond L. Vaughn Jr. of Edmond won re-election Tuesday with 60,839 or 72.19 percent of the votes cast.

His Democrat challenger Thomas Parkhurst, also of Edmond, had 23,434 votes or 27.81 percent, according to the Oklahoma County Election Board.

“I am elated, obviously,” Vaughn said. “I love this job. I really value the work that the county does, and I look forward to returning for another four years. Oklahoma County is the best place to live and Oklahoma is the greatest state to live in. Now is our time to shine and we are going to do it.

“We have great new leadership from the top of the state coming down, and I think it is a grand time to be here.”

In 2006, Oklahoma County voters elected Vaughn to serve a four-year term as county commissioner for District 3, which covers most of northern Oklahoma County including Edmond, Arcadia, Luther, The Village, Nichols Hills, Warr Acres, Bethany and Oklahoma City. When he took office on Jan. 2, 2007, his colleagues elected him as vice-chairman of the Board of County Commissioners.

In his first month in office, Vaughn fulfilled a campaign promise in leading the way to re-establish the Budget Board in Oklahoma County, effective June 30, 2007.  

Vaughn re-established and served as chairman for the Jail Funding Task Force, a committee of community leaders working to address issues facing the Oklahoma County jail.

“We have got to resolve the issues with our county jail,” Vaughn said Tuesday night after hearing of his re-election. “That is going to be a larger project. I think we can handle the large projects and I hope the voters will trust us. We have got to act responsibly and do our part.”

Vaughn led the way to dissolve the establishment of the Office of Budget and Management, saving taxpayers an estimated $250,000 annually, and he also assisted in establishing the Budget Evaluation Team, which aids the budget process by making preliminary preparations before consideration of the budget by elected officials, and helped establish an IT Committee to analyze Oklahoma County’s high-tech needs.

Commissioner Vaughn and his wife Suzanne have been married for 41 years and have three grown children and eight grandchildren.