Both of Oklahoma's U.S. Senate seats on primary ballots

Jun. 25—The retirement of an Oklahoma fixture in the nation's Capitol has resulted in both of the state's U.S. Senate seats being on the ballots in Tuesday's primary elections.

The full six-year term of Sen. James Lankford is on the ballot according to regular schedule, but because 87-year-old Jim Inhofe has decided to retire this year, the remaining four years of his unexpired term will be up for election.

While Lankford has two GOP opponents in Tuesday's primary and will face a Democrat and a couple of third-party candidates in the fall, he has the advantage of incumbency and continues to do solidly well in most polls.

As for the race for the unexpired Inhofe term, the absence of an incumbent has attracted a crowded field of 13 aspirants on the GOP side of the solidly red state. U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin of the 2nd District has been listed at the top of the heap, but he faces some competitors with plenty of cash on hand.

FULL TERM

Republicans

In Tuesday's GOP primary, Lankford will face off with two challengers, Jackson Lahmeyer and Joan Farr.

—Lankford, 54, was tabbed in 2014 in a special election when Sen. Tom Coburn left office. He won election to a full term in 2016. He previously had served as the U.S. representative from Oklahoma's 5th District.

He obtained a bachelor's degree in 1990 from the University of Texas, and a master's degree in 1994 from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1996 to 2009 he worked as a youth camp director.

—Lahmeyer, 29, is the Tulsa pastor of Sheridan Christ Center, more commonly known as Sheridan.church. He is a former coodinator for Billy Graham Evangelistic Assocation Association.

—Farr, 67, was born in Germany. She obtained a bachelor's degree in 1977 from Wichita State University. She lists jobs as a traffic investigator with the Wichita Police Department, as a buyer for the Boeing Company, president of Heffington Homes of Wichita, and CEO of the Association for Honest Attorneys.

She also notes work as a business consultant and a pre-litigation consultant. She ran as an independent for U.S. Senate in 2014 and again in 2020.

Democrats

Six candidates are running for the Democratic Party's nomination to run in the fall general election. They are:

—Jason Bollinger owns a law firm in Oklahoma City, and formerly worked for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. He obtained his law degree from Oklahoma University.

—Brandon Wade notes work as a machinery assembler in the oil industry. He also worked in union organization, chairing a committee for 10 years.

—Madison Horn, 32, of Oklahoma City, recently moved from Virginia to run for U.S. Senate. She cites work as a cyber security professional.

—Jo Glenn obtained her law degree in 1976 from Tulsa University. She notes teaching as a profession and cites three years of chairing the Democratic Party in Tulsa.

—Arya Azma was raised by Iranian immigrants in Norman. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and traded stocks for a Wall Street bank.

—Dennis Baker obtained a law degree in 1988 from Tulsa University. He cites as work experience providing security at Sandia National Laboratories.

Third-party candidates who will be on the ballot in November are Libertarian Kenneth Blevins, and independent Michael Delaney.

UNEXPIRED TERM Republicans

On Tuesday, the race essentially is who will succeed Sen. Jim Inhofe, who has served in the upper chamber since 1994 and was a U.S House member from Oklahoma's 1st District from 1987 to 1994.

He is retiring in January 2023, leaving an unexpired term of four years.

The candidates:

—U.S. Rep. Mullin, 45, has a solid track record in elections in the 2nd District that extends on the state's east side from Ottawa County south all the way to Red River on the border with Texas.

Mullin operates Mullin Plumbing and several other companies, and formerly was professional martial arts fighter. He has an associate degree in construction technology from the University of Oklahoma's Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation.

—Scott Pruitt served in the Oklahoma state Senate from 1999 to 2007, served four years as the state's attorney general, and was tabbed by President Donald Trump as the chief of the Environmental Protection Agency in 2017. He has an undergraduate degree from Georgetown College and a law degree from Oklahoma University.

—Luke Holland, 29, is a drummer musician and has served as Sen. Inhofe's chief of staff.

—Nathan Dahm is a software developer and has served in the state Senate from 2012 to the present. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in 2010.

—Alex Gray says he is a fourth-generation Oklahoman who worked in President Trump's White House. He served as chief of staff of the National Security Council.

—T.W. Shannon is a former speaker of the Oklahoma House, having served in that body from 2007 to 2015. The ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

—John Tomkins is a Oklahoma City doctor who ran unsuccessfully in 2020 for U.S. Senate.

Candidates with less-public profiles are Bartlesville reisdent Michael Coibion, Jessica Garrison of Owasso, Cushing physician Randy Grellner, Adam Holley of Bixby, Laura Moreno of Edmund, and Paul Royse of Tulsa.

Democrat

Kendra Horn, 46, from Chickasha, is the lone Democrat to file for the unexpired term. She is a former one-term 5th District U.S. representative. She is not related to Madison Horn, who is a Democrat running for the full Senate term.

Kendra Horn, along with independent Ray Woods and Libertarian Robert Murphy, will be on the ballot with the GOP winner in the general election in November.

Observers of primary are noting that with the number of GOP candidates in the race, it could be more difficult for anyone to walk away with the nomination Tuesday night. If no candidate obtains 50% of the vote Tuesday, a runoff election would be required on Aug. 23.