Oklahoma
Senator Jim Inhofe Republican James Inhofe, Oklahoma s senior senator, was first elected to the House in 1986 and to the Senate in 1994. He is widely known for his vehement disbelief in the science of climate change as well as for his hawkish pro-military views. He returned to the chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee in 2015. Inhofe (IN-hauff) grew up in Tulsa, served in the Army, and worked in real estate and insurance. He was elected to the Oklahoma House in 1966, at age 31, and to the Oklahoma Senate in 1969. He won the heavily Republican 1st District House seat in 1986, when Jim Jones ran unsuccessfully for the Senate, but held it with uninspiring margins. Inhofe s greatest achievement in the House was reforming the arcane discharge petition rule. For years, House rules kept secret the names of signers of petitions to force bills stuck in committees to the floor for action; anonymity allowed lawmakers to claim they had worked to bring legislation to the floor when they in fact had done the opposite. That was changed in 1993, and one of the first bills to benefit from the new rules was an aviation liability reform bill, co-sponsored by flying buff Inhofe and limiting the liability of small airplane manufacturers in lawsuits resulting from crashes. Inhofe jumped into the 1994 Senate race after David Boren, a conservative Democrat, announced he was retiring to become president of the University of Oklahoma with two years left in his Senate term. Inhofe has a solidly conservative voting record and is blunt, even acerbic, at times. Currently: Senator, OK Elected: 1994 Education: U. of Tulsa, B.A., 1973 Religion: Presbyterian Family: Married (Kay), 4 children, 16 grandchildren Contact: (202) 224-4721 205 Russell Senate Office Washington, DC 20510 Supports more oil and gas drilling and exploration in the United States Opposes the government regulating greenhouse gas emissions Supports taking military action in Syria Opposes same-sex marriage Favors privatizing social security Opposes gun control legislation Supports pro-life legislation Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Senate Committee on Armed Services Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Senate Commerce on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 2014 General Jim Inhofe (R) Votes: 558,166 Percent: 68.0% Matt Silverstein (D) Votes: 234,307 Percent: 29.0%
Senator James Lankford Just a few years ago, Republican James Lankford was a little-known church youth camp director without any political experience. Since then, he has won a seat in the House, a leadership position in his party, and -- in 2014 -- the Senate seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Tom Coburn. In the House, Lankford was given a seat on the Oversight and Government Reform panel and won committee passage of several bills, including a measure setting new standards to promote transparency in the awarding of federal grants. On the Budget Committee, he became a firm supporter of Republican Chairman Paul Ryan's push to cut spending. Politico named him, along with California Democrat Karen Bass, as the freshman "most likely to succeed." When Georgia's Tom Price decided against running again for the Policy Committee chairmanship, Lankford quietly lined up support from colleagues and was elected without opposition to the party's fifth-ranking post. When Coburn announced he would resign at the end of the 113th Congress rather than serve the final two years of his term, Lankford jumped into the race. Despite his earlier backing from Tea Party interests, Lankford rankled some in the movement by joining the GOP leadership and voting in favor of raising the federal debt ceiling. Several of the Tea Party's most visible figures coalesced around Republican T.W. Shannon, an African-American who also is a member of the Chickasaw tribe. Lankford, however, drew on his longstanding support from the state's Baptist community and won 57 percent of the primary vote to Shannon's 34 percent. In solidly conservative Oklahoma, that assured his eventual election. Currently: Senator, OK Elected: 2014 Education: U. of TX, B.S., 1990; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, M.Div., 1994 Religion: Baptist Family: Married (Cindy), 2 children Contact: (202) 224-5754 316 Hart Senate Office Supports the absolute right to own guns Supports repealing Obamacare Opposes abortion rights Opposes Common Core education standards Supports domestic drilling and refining of oil and gas Senate Committee on Appropriations Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Senate Committee on Intelligence James Lankford (R) Votes: 980,892 Percent: 67.7% Mike Workman (D) Votes: 355,911 Percent: 24.6%
Congressman Jim Bridenstine Tea Party-backed Jim Bridenstine scored a big upset in 2012 by knocking off 10-year veteran Rep. John Sullivan in the GOP primary. In the conservative district, Bridenstine s general election victory was almost guaranteed. After graduating from Rice University in 1998, he joined the Navy and became a pilot of the E-2 Hawkeye, an airborne command and control plane. As a naval officer, he served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, flying combat missions and logging more than 1,900 flight hours. He transitioned to flying the F-18 Hornet with the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Nevada in 2004. During that time, he bought a small ranch in Nevada and began to raise alpacas. After leaving active duty in 2007, Bridenstine and his wife, Michelle, moved to Orlando, Fla., where he worked at defense consulting firm Wyle Laboratories. Simultaneously, he earned his M.B.A. from Cornell University, flying to New York every other weekend for classes. In 2008, Bridenstine and his family moved back to Tulsa, where he became the director of the city s Air and Space Museum. In September 2011, Bridenstine launched a long-shot primary campaign for Sullivan s House seat. The incumbent had a very conservative voting record and had clocked at least 60% of the vote in his prior three reelection campaigns. Bridenstine painted Sullivan as an out-of-touch, career politician with a proclivity for missing votes. Bridenstine won, 54% to 46%. In the general election, Bridenstine easily dispatched Democratic businessman John Olson. A strong believer in term limits, Bridenstine has vowed to serve no more than three terms in the House. OK-01 Elected: 2012 Education: Rice U., B.A., 1998; Cornell U., M.B.A., 2009 Religion: Baptist Family: Married (Michelle), 3 children Contact: (202) 225-2211 216 Cannon House Office Supports Second Amendment rights Opposes the Affordable Care Act Supports American energy independence Opposes abortion rights Supports term limits on members of Congress House Committee on Science, Space and Technology House Committee on Armed Services Jim Bridenstine (R) Unopposed
Congressman Markwayne Mullin Republican plumber Markwayne Mullin beat former Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Wallace in 2012 to claim the seat of retiring Rep. Dan Boren, one of the House s few remaining conservative Southern Democrats. Mullin was born in Tulsa and grew up in Westville, a small town on the Arkansas line, as the youngest of seven children. His father ran a small plumbing business, which Mullin took over at age 19 after briefly attending Missouri Valley College. He expanded the company from six employees to more than 100. He also hosted a local talk show advising callers on home repair. Mullin, a Cherokee, operates the Oklahoma Fight Club in Broken Arrow, a training center for jujitsu and mixed martial arts. He earned an associate s degree in business in 2010 from the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in Okmulgee. During the House campaign, some of Mullin s business practices came under fire. Based on a tip from an employee, federal agents raided Mullin Plumbing and discovered a stocked gun safe belonging to another employee, Tim Saylor, a convicted felon, who ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm. Mullin admitted he had not performed a background check on Saylor, who had worked for a company that Mullin bought, and that he had shot guns with him. Mullin also faced questions about whether he had illegally purchased a gun for Saylor, which he denied. In addition, Democrats alleged that Mullin omitted his association with the jujitsu center from a personal financial disclosure in 2012. OK-02 Elected: 2012 Education: MO Valley Col., Attended, 1996; OK St. U. Inst. of Tech., A.D., 2010 Religion: Pentecostal Family: Married (Christie), 5 children Contact: (202) 225-2701 1323 Longworth House Office Opposes abortion rights Opposes same-sex marriage Does not support increasing marginal income tax rates Supports the Keystone XL pipeline Does not support gun-control legislation Supports the repealing of Obamacare Supports government funding for the development of renewable energy House Committee on Energy and Commerce Markwayne Mullin (R) Votes: 189,839 Percent: 70.6% Joshua Harris-Till (D) Votes: 62,387 Percent: 23.2%
Congressman Frank Lucas Republican Frank Lucas, who won his seat in a 1994 special election, is a soft-spoken, unflashy farmer and rancher. As chairman of the Agriculture Committee until 2015, he sought to bridge the divide between deal-oriented lawmakers from farm states and budget-conscious conservatives. Lucas family roots in western Oklahoma extend more than 100 years; he owns a 480-acre farm and cattle ranch in Roger Mills County. He studied agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, where he was active in the College Republicans and student government. He was elected to the Oklahoma House in 1988 at age 28 after losing two races. He got his chance to run for Congress when Glenn English, a 19-year conservative Democrat, resigned. Lucas had serious competition in both the primary and the general election, but he ultimately won 54%-46%. Since then, he has been reelected by wide margins. Lucas voting record is mostly conservative, but less so on cultural issues. He also increasingly has broken from conservative orthodoxy on economic matters. His main focus is the pragmatic work of the Agriculture Committee, where he became the ranking Republican in the 111th Congress (2009-10) and rose to chairman in 2011 when Republicans took majority control of the House. He found himself leading a committee full of freshmen and new members who did not share his bipartisan leanings. Also with an eye on his district, Lucas helped to write the final provisions in the 2005 energy bill governing rural grants and biodiesel tax credits. He remains a proponent of government support for alternative fuels, particularly switchgrass. On the Financial Services Committee, Lucas has been a reliable supporter of the banking and insurance industries. OK-03 Elected: 1994 Education: OK St. U., B.S., 1982 Religion: Baptist Family: Married (Lynda), 3 children, 2 grandchildren Contact: (202) 225-5565 2405 Rayburn House Office Supports rural airport subsidies Supports the Economic Development Administration Supports bipartisan agreements Supports alternative fuels Supports the banking and insurance industries House Committee on Science, Space and Technology House Committee on Agriculture House Committee on Financial Services Frank Lucas (R) Votes: 227,525 Percent: 78.3% Frankie Robbins (D) Votes: 63,090 Percent: 21.7%
Congressman Tom Cole Tom Cole, first elected in 2002, is a politically savvy Republican who is a frequent source for reporters seeking to understand the GOP s inner workings. He is a fifth-generation Oklahoman, and his mother was a state representative and senator. He s also a member of the Chickasaw Nation tribe; more than half of the nation s Chickasaw Indians live in the district. With the retirement of Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado in 2004, Cole became the only American Indian in Congress until 2013, when his Oklahoma GOP colleague Markwayne Mullin joined him in the House. From 1985 to 1989, he was the Oklahoma Republican Party chairman. In 1988, he was elected to the state Senate. He moved to Washington in 1991 to become executive director of the NRCC, and over the next few years, held jobs as the chief of staff for the Republican National Committee in the 2000 election, the appointed Oklahoma secretary of state, and the president of a polling and political consulting firm in Oklahoma City. Cole won the 2001 election for the House of Representatives 54%-46%, and has been reelected with ease ever since. In the House, Cole has a mostly conservative voting record, though in the 112th Congress (2011-12) he was the leastconservative Republican in the Oklahoma delegation. Cole is known as an able conciliator trusted by mainstream Republicans and conservative enough to maintain credibility with the impulsive and restive Tea Party faction of the caucus. Cole began his House career on the Armed Services Committee, a seat of obvious importance to the district, before leaving the panel in 2005 to serve on Rules, which launched him on a career in leadership. He has been actively involved in issues related to American Indians. OK-04 Elected: 2002 Education: Grinnell Col., B.A., 1971; Yale U., M.A., 1974; U. of OK, Ph.D., 1984 Religion: Methodist Family: Married (Ellen), 1 child Contact: (202) 225-6165 2467 Rayburn House Office Supports right-to-work laws Supports government spending Supports military installations in Oklahoma Supports the Education Department s Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs Opposes government shutdowns House Committee on the Budget House Committee on Appropriations House Committee on Rules Tom Cole (R) Votes: 204,143 Percent: 69.6% Christina Owen (D) Votes: 76,472 Percent: 26.1%
Congressman Steve Russell Republican Steve Russell, elected in 2014, is used to a fight. He survived several life-threatening events as a child, was part of the military unit that captured Saddam Hussein and won the nominations for state Senate and the U.S. House seat in runoffs after heavily contested primaries. After graduating high school (where he was voted most likely to succeed), Russell went to Ouachita Baptist University on an ROTC scholarship. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Infantry and ultimately reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. During his military career, Russell served in Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where his unit was part of the effort to hunt and capture Saddam Hussein. Decorated several times for his service, he retired from the military in 2006 and went back to Oklahoma, where he wrote a book, We Got Him! A Memoir of the Hunt and Capture of Saddam Hussein. In 2008, Russell won a seat in the Oklahoma state Senate. In the legislature, Russell focused on two issues important to him veterans and abortion and authored a law that made Oklahoma-serving military members exempt from taxes. He declined to run for reelection in 2012 so he could promote his book and start a small rifle-manufacturing business, Two River Arms. In 2014, he first ran for the House of Representatives after making it through a six-way Republican primary and runoff election. Russell ended up winning the runoff easily, with 59 percent of the vote. That win made him the favorite to head to Washington to represent the deep-red district. He bested Democratic state Sen. Al McAffrey in the general to capture the seat vacated when Republican James Lankford decided to run for the Senate seat of retiring Republican Tom Coburn. OK-05 Elected: 2014 Education: Ouachita Baptist U., B.A., 1985; U.S. Army Command & General Staff Col., M.M.A.S., 1998 Religion: Southern Baptist Family: Married (Cindy), 2 children, 3 adopted children Contact: (202) 225-2132 128 Cannon House Office Opposes government spending Opposes the Affordable Care Act Supports fossil fuels Supports the de-federalization of the U.S. education system Supports immigration reform House Committee on Armed Services House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Steve Russell (R) Votes: 160,184 Percent: 57.1% Al McAffrey (D) Votes: 103,273 Percent: 36.8%