FIVE seek vacant state House seat

Tuesday, July 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Voters in three northern Oklahoma counties go to the polls Tuesday for a special primary election required because of the resignation of a District 38 state representative.

Elsewhere, residents in Rogers County will head to the polls to consider a levy for fire equipment and Wagoner County voters will decide whether to retain a utility franchise.

Four Republicans are vying for the seat left vacant by the resignation of Jim Reese, R-Nardin.

Reese, a farmer and eight-term member of the House, quit in May to head the Oklahoma office of the Farmer Services Agency, which is based at Oklahoma State University. The federal agency administers more than $1 billion in agricultural programs in Oklahoma.

Doug Eisenhauer, 48, a farmer and businessman, was the only Democrat to file and advances to the Aug. 14 general election.

The four Republicans are Neva Mitchell, 59, of Cherokee, a former special education teacher; Jim Rodgers, 57, of Blackwell, an attorney; Dale DeWitt, 51, of Braman, a teacher and farmer; and Neal Williams, 42, of Medford, who owns an insurance and real estate company.

The election is for the remaining year of Reese's two-year term. The winner would be up for re-election in November 2002.

District 38 includes all of Alfalfa and Grant and part of Kay County.

In northeastern Oklahoma, residents in the tiny community of Foyil will determine whether the Foyil Fire Protection District can impose a $1.5 million levy for building stations and buying equipment.

In Wagoner County, residents in Red Bird will decide whether to retain a Public Service Co. of Oklahoma franchise.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.