On paper, it’s not easy to spot the differences between the two candidates for Cleveland County Clerk.

If fact, it’s downright difficult.

Both candidates are women.

Both are in their 40s — though neither was too thrilled to answer the age question.

Both are natives of the area.

Both are graduates of Noble High School.

Both are mothers.

Both have several years experience working in the clerk’s office.

Both are making their first campaign for the office.

And both are Republicans.

Still, there are some things which separate the two; and it is those differences that Tammy Howard and Kerrie Hudson hope the public will use to decide whom they want for Cleveland County Clerk.

For Howard, that means experience.

A former member of the Slaughterville City Council, Howard, 40, is serving as the incumbent clerk, having been appointed by the Board of Commissioners in 2007. A former employee in the office, Howard began working for the county in June 1981.

“I started out in the real estate department,” she said. “Then I moved over to the UCC/Federal Tax Lien department and ran that for over a year, then I was transferred to purchasing.”

Howard worked in purchasing until 2000, when she was promoted to the department head. It was at that time, she said, the purchasing department was moved under the county budget board.

“I was responsible for my own department and my own budget,” she said. “Then I went from having one boss to eight bosses.”

After being appointed as county clerk, she resigned her position as a trustee for the town of Slaughterville and since then, has held the county clerk’s post.

“I do this because I absolutely love county government,” she said. “I love the diversity and I love working with people. I believe county government is the best form of government.”

While the office is responsible for the filing of many public documents, the county clerk also acts as secretary to the county’s Board of Commissioners.

“You have to work very closely with the commissioners,” she said. “Because they work well as a team.”

It’s that team approach that Howard wants to leverage to improve operations in the clerk’s office. Should she be elected to a full term, Howard said she would work to upgrade the county’s Web site and move the office to accept credit and debit cards for payment.

“We want to upgrade our technology and get ready for electronic document filing,” she said.

Howard said she also would send the office’s employees to a county government training academy at Oklahoma State University. “When I was appointed clerk, I asked the employees what was the one thing they would change if they could and they all told me they wanted more education.”

Howard said she’s already made many changes.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve updated the county payroll system with new software, we’ve added direct deposit, we’ve changed the pay period to twice a month — all which have helped streamline the process and reduce expenses.”

Like Howard, 43-year-old Kerrie Hudson has spent years in county government.

A former employee of the county clerk’s office, Hudson spent 24 years working for Cleveland County government, before moving to the clerk’s office in Oklahoma County.

“I’ve done everything, every job in the clerk’s office,” she said.

Promoted in 2001, Hudson served as chief deputy of the Cleveland County clerk’s office until 2005, when she left to take the position of special projects manager for the Oklahoma County clerk’s office.

“When I went to the Oklahoma County clerk’s office, I knew I was going to run (for Cleveland County clerk),” she said. “I wasn’t really expecting Dorinda (then-clerk Dorinda Harvey) to run and I felt if I stayed there it would have made things a little awkward.”

Since she’s been in the Oklahoma County office, Hudson has been responsible for training of the office’s 60-plus employees and its technology and software needs.

“I serve on the Information Technology task force committee and the OKPRET, the property records task force,” she said. Hudson said she’s also responsible for serving as a communications liaison between the clerk’s office and other agencies. “And I also fill in for any directors if there’s a director gone.”

And while she said she “doesn’t have any issues” with Howard’s tenure as clerk, Hudson said she’s running for the office because serving as county clerk “has been a dream.”

“For me this is a dream. I love the clerk’s office,” she said. “I love serving the public and I believe, really believe in customer service.”

Hudson, too, wants to upgrade the office’s technology.

“I believe we need to upgrade the clerk’s Web site,” she said. “It’s not very user-friendly.”

She said she’s also pushed the conversion to electronic records and would work to make sure those records didn’t include the public’s Social Security numbers.

“We’ve kinda hit a standstill on electronic images,” she said. “I want to finish getting records online, but without Social Security numbers, those would be redacted.”

Hudson added that, like Howard, she would provide training for the office’s employees and work to improve customer service in the office.

“I feel that most of the county employees need training through the county officials academy,” she said.

A mother of three, Howard’s children include her 21-year-old son, a 14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son; she has two grandchildren.

Hudson and her husband have two boys, ages 16 and 13.

And while both women say the voters have “been very positive and supportive,” both acknowledge a short, difficult campaign awaits them.

“People have been supportive,” Howard said, “but you’ve got to get them to the polls.”

The pair face each other in the July 29 Republican primary election. Because no Democrat filed in the race, the July election is a “winner-take-all” for the successful candidate.