Federal Offices on General Election Ballot
U.S. Senate
U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (72% Freedom Index score from The New American, rated by votes in fidelity to the Constitution) was re-elected two years ago and has four more years before his term expires. The U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator James Lankford (68% Freedom Index) is up for election this year. Lankfort won a special election in 2014 to fill the unexpired term of Senator Tom Coburn who decided to leave the Congress two years early. Because Coburn's seat was not up until 2016, the Special Election for the post was for a "short term" of just two years. The election this year is for a full six-year term.
U.S. Senator Jame Lankford, 48, of Edmond is running for reelection. After many years in church youth camp work, political novice Lankford surprised many observers with his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. He again surprised pundits with his win in the senate race.
Since he was the only Republican candidate to file for the post this year, he has secured the GOP nomination, but will face a Democrat, a Libertarian, and two Independent candidates in the General Election.
Only one Democrat candidate, Mike Workman, 65, of Tulsa filed for the seat. Workman ran for the state Labor Commissioner post in 2014, losing to Mark Costello. Following a short career as a public school teacher from 1974 to 1976, in 1978 Workman founded Workman & Company, a political consulting company working to elect Democrats to office. He is known as a local community activist and helped organize Occupy Tulsa in the fall of 2011 as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Workman has had several skirmishes with the law including being forcibly removed from a Tulsa City Council meeting and driving with a invalid license. In 2011, the Tulsa County District Attorney filed Domestic Assault & Battery charges against Workman, but the charges were later dropped.
Two candidates are running for the Libertarian nomination. Dax Ewbank, 40, of Guthrie ran for governor in 2014 as a Republican and finished in third place. Robert T. Murphy, 68, of Norman is the other Libertarian candidate. He has run for various offices in the past, including several races for Congress. He ran as a Libertarian when the party previously had ballot status, and in later campaigns as an Independent.
There will also be two Independent candidates on the General Election ballot: Sean Braddy, 44, of Norman and Mark T. Beard, 56, of Oklahoma City.
U.S. House -- Fist District
First District (Tulsa area) incumbent Republican Jim Bridenstine, 40, is running for a third term. He is widely regarded as the state's most conservative congressman and the highest Freedom Index score (published by The New American magazine) in the delegation at 85%. As a Navy combat pilot, Bridenstine flew missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He served as executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum before leaving in 2010 to concentrate on his career in the Naval Reserve. He defeated Congressman John Sullivan in 2012. He ran unopposed two years ago, but is being challenged for the Republican nomination by two opponents this time. Evelyn L. Rogers, 63, is a college librarian and perennial candidate. She ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and 2014, and five times for a seat in the U.S. House. She has also run for the Oklahoma Legislature. Tulsa attorney and oilman Tom Atkinson, 66, who considered making the race two years ago, is the other challenger. While no Democrats filed for the post, the seat will be on the November ballot since David Matthew Hullum, 33, of Tulsa filed as an Independent.
U.S. House -- Second District
Markwayne Mullin, 38, is running for a third term in the second district. Mullin owns Mullin Plumbing which spans much of the state and also has ranching operations in Adair and Wagoner counties. Two years ago, Mullin overcame a challenge for the Republican nomination, and went on to defeat Democrat Earl Everett, 80, of Fort Gibson who died immediately before the November election due to injuries in a car accident. Mullin holds a Freedom Index score of 63%.
Mullin is being challenged in the Republican Primary by Jarrin Jackson, 30, of Claremore. Jackson is an Afghan War Veteran and serves as an executive of a non-profit organization. He has been endorsed by the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC).
There are two Democrats competing in the June Primary. Paul E. Shiefelbein, 57, of Tahlequah is seeking the nomination. Making a second try is Joshua Harris-Till, 28, of Tahlequah who lost the nomination in 2014 to Everett. Independent, John McCarthy, 46, of Afton will also be on the General Election ballot.
The district covers 26 counties in eastern Oklahoma, stretching south from the Kansas state line to the Red River border with Texas. After the 2010 census and minor redistricting, the district remains the most Democratic in the state by registration.
U.S. House -- Third District
Long-time Third District Congressman Frank Lucas, 56, was first elected in a Special Election in 1994. He is the longest serving member among the current Oklahoma Delegation in the U.S. House, and is running for reelection. Lucas received accolades from many conservative Republicans when he was the lone member of the House of Representatives from Oklahoma to vote against the big bank bailout in 2008. But Lucas has angered many conservatives with some of his votes over the past several years. Lucas now holds a Freedom Index score of only 58%. He is being challenged for the Republican nomination by Desiree Brown, 32, of Hennessey.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Frankie Robbins, 70, of Medford in the General Election. Robbins lost to Lucas in 2008 and 2010. He also ran in 2012, but lost in the Primary Election. Robbins, a Civil Engineer, is retired from the U.S. Forest Service. The third district covers most of the north central and northwestern parts of the state, including the panhandle.
U.S. House -- Fourth District
Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole, 66, is running for reelection. Cole was first elected to Congress in 2002. While serving in the state Senate back in the 1989-90 time period Cole compiled an 80% Oklahoma Conservative Index score, placing him in the Top Conservatives list. However, his record in Congress has been markedly less conservative, and is the lowest-scoring member of the delegation with a mere 52% Freedom Index score. He is being challenged for the Republican nomination by two conservative candidates, Shawn M. Roberts, 34, of Lawton and Dr. James Taylor, 57, of Norman. Taylor has been endorsed by the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC).
Cole publicly lambasted Senator Ted Cruz late last year after Cruz expressed satisfaction that House Speaker John Boehner was stepping down. That Cruz won every county but one small county in the 4th congressional district in the March 1 primary could prove interesting.
There are two Democrats competing for their party's nomination. Bert Smith, 68, ran for the 5th Congressional District three times (2004, 2006, 2008), then moved to Moore and ran for the 4th District in 2012 and 2014, losing both times in the Democrat Primary. The other Democrat is Christina Owen, 32, of Norman.
Sevier White, 67, of Norman filed as a Libertarian and will be on the General Election ballot. The district covers much of south central and southwestern parts of the state.
U.S. House -- Fifth District
The 5th District includes most of Oklahoma County, Pottawatomie and Seminole counties. With the decision by Fifth District Congressman James Lankford to run for the open U.S. Senate post two years ago, the congressional seat was open and attracted many candidates including six Republicans, three Democrats, and three Independents. Neither of the two parties selected their nominee in the June 24 Primary Election and so the battle for the respective nominations carried on to the August Runoff Primary. Former state Senator Steve Russell won the GOP nomination and went on to win the seat in the November General Election. Russell, 52, of Oklahoma City earned a 74% cumulative Conservative Index score during his tenure in the Legislature and won the endorsement of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) in his run for Congress. But, this year OCPAC has endorsed Frank Volpe, 48, of Oklahoma City. Volpe is a retired Naval Officer. Russell has a Freedom Index score of just 63%.
The same three Democrats who ran for the seat in 2014 are again making the race. Tom Guild, 61, of Edmond was the only Democrat to file for the seat in 2012. He ran for the seat two years earlier, losing in the primary. He also lost the Democrat nomination in 2014. Guild taught political science and legal studies at the University of Central Oklahoma for 27 years and for three years at Oklahoma City University. Years ago, when he was a registered Republican, Guild made three races for a seat on the Corporation Commission, but lost in the Republican Primary the last two times. He even went so far as to put the word "Reagan" on his campaign signs, and claimed to be a conservative Republican. He now calls himself a Progressive Democrat.
Guild was defeated by State Senator Al McAffrey, 67, of Oklahoma City in the 2014 Democrat Primary. McAffrey was first elected to the Oklahoma House in 2006, and reelected in 2008 and 2010. He won a special election to the state Senate in 2012. McAffrey has a cumulative average score of 14% on the Oklahoma Conservative Index. Guild and McAffrey are both activists for the "gay rights" agenda.
The third Democrat in the race is Leona Leonard, 45, of Seminole. Leonard, the chair of the Seminole County Democratic Party, finished third in the 2014 Democrat Primary.
Zachary Knight, 35, of Edmond will be on the Libertarian line of the General Election ballot.
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