Both US Senate seats on ballot in Oklahoma primary

Oklahoma City (AP) — With both of Oklahoma's U.S. Senate seats on the ballot for the first time in recent history, incumbent Jim Inhofe is seeking to fend off challengers in the Republican primary for one of the seats while two of the party's ascending stars battle for the other.

Inhofe is up for re-election to a full six-year term, but fellow GOP U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn's seat will be on Tuesday's ballot too. Coburn sent shock waves through the state's political scene when he announced in January that he was stepping down due to a recurrence of cancer.

The race to replace Coburn drew three Democrats and seven Republicans. Oklahoma has not elected a Democrat to an open U.S. Senate seat since David Boren in 1978, and Republicans will be heavily favored to maintain it.

Two-term Congressman James Lankford, 46, and 36-year-old T.W. Shannon, Oklahoma's youngest and first African-American speaker of the House, both aimed to win the GOP nomination outright. But a runoff was a strong possibility with five other candidates on the GOP ballot, including state Sen. Randy Brogdon, a 61-year-old tea party favorite who ran against Gov. Mary Fallin in 2010.

Lankford and Shannon have emerged as the top contenders, with both far outpacing their opponents in fundraising. Lankford reported total contributions of about $2.1 million, while Shannon reported raising about $1.4 million.

Both candidates also have enjoyed support from "dark money" groups that aren't required to list their donors. Much of that support came in the form of attack ads that drew a swift rebuke from Coburn, a political maverick who remains wildly popular in Oklahoma.

The negative ads swayed voter Jim Burdick Jr., 60, a body shop owner from rural Logan County. He said voted for Lankford and that he wasn't impressed with how Shannon "bent" Lankford's voting record in TV ads.

"It was taken out of context," he said.

But voter Donald Spence, who is retired from the Oklahoma Rural Water Association, said he voted for Shannon after watching the ads.

"He does a good job and is not for that Obamacare," he said. "He's for the people."

Lankford has campaigned as a workhorse and has risen quickly during his three years in Washington — earning coveted assignments on both budget and oversight committees, as well as becoming chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.

But Shannon, who also is a member of the powerful Chickasaw Nation, describes himself as the more conservative candidate and has aimed to exploit the sliver of room to Lankford's right, attacking the congressman for his votes to increase the debt limit and to support a bipartisan budget agreement.

In the other U.S. Senate race, 79-year-old Inhofe faces four little-known challengers in the GOP primary. There is no Democratic primary in that race.

In other action on the ballot Tuesday, Gov. Mary Fallin faces a pair of pro-marijuana Republican challengers in her bid for a second term as the state's chief executive. Two Republicans and four Democrats are looking to oust Superintendent of Public Instruction Janet Barresi, who has come under fire for the state's grading system for schools and the Legislature's decision to repeal Common Core standards.

In Tahlequah, Gail Garcia said she voted for Brian Kelly in the GOP primary for schools superintendent. She said the former history and social studies teacher seemed less bureaucratic than his opponents.

"I don't think anyone who's not been in the classroom can make the decisions they've been making," she said.

Republican voters will decide winner-take-all primary elections in the race for corporation commissioner and insurance commissioner, while voters from all but the 1st Congressional District in Tulsa will head to the polls to determine their party's nominee to serve another two years in Congress.

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by Sean Murphy, Associated Press

Associated Press writers Kristi Eaton in Guthrie and Justin Juozapavicius in Tahlequah contributed to this report.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – June 24, 2014 @ 11:15am