GOP debate for Inhofe seat produced few sparks as runoff nears

The only televised debate between Republican U.S. Senate hopefuls T.W. Shanon and U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin produced few sparks on Tuesday night, but the head of the Oklahoma Republican Party garnered some attention afterward by contradicting the candidates’ comments on the 2020 election.

Mullin and Shannon, who are vying for the GOP nomination to succeed U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe next year, faced questions about former President Donald Trump and the 2020 election, inflation, gun control, abortion, immigration and other issues.

Both candidates said they believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen and questioned how President Joe Biden could have received as many votes as he did.

“The election actually was stolen,” Shannon said in the debate. “I believe that whole-heartedly. We should do a full investigation to ensure election integrity.”

In an extraordinary rebuke, Oklahoma Republican Party Chair A.J. Ferate tweeted after the debate that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen and that Republicans need to focus on future elections.

Ferate, who was elected in May to lead the Oklahoma Republican Party, tweeted, “The Trump campaign had every opportunity to bring forward evidence in court and failed to do so.  It takes a ‘clear and convincing’ standard to prove fraud in court. They didn’t put forward a scintilla of provable evidence.”

Update:Oklahoma GOP chief calls out Mullin, Shannon for saying 2020 election was stolen

Republican voters will choose between Shannon and Mullin in the Aug. 23 runoff. Mullin, 45, of Westville, is the clear frontrunner after winning nearly 44% of the vote in the 13-person primary on June 28. Shannon, 44, the CEO of Chickasaw Community Bank in Oklahoma City, got 17.5%.

The debate was broadcast live statewide by CBS affiliates Newson6 in Tulsa, where it was held, and News9 in Oklahoma City. It may be the last joint appearance for the two candidates before the runoff.

The first four questions were about Trump, the election and the Jan. 6 riots. Mullin and Shannon grew exasperated at the questions and never wavered in defending Trump, claiming no one but the media and Democrats cared about the insurrection.

More:Some Oklahoma lawmakers, including Markwayne Mullin, are ignoring the Jan. 6 hearings in Congress

On abortion, guns and term limits

The two candidates said they would not support any gun control measures and do not support rape and incest exceptions to abortion bans.

“Most of the gun violence that we see is happening in Democrat-controlled cities, where they have some of the strictest gun laws and they’re not keeping people safe,” Shannon said. “In order to protect your family, it’s important to understand gun safety, but that does not start with disarmament from Washington, D.C.”

Mullin said Oklahomans “support assault rifles. We support the right to bear arms, without question.” He said the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to bear arms gives legislators “no wiggle room.”

Mullin was asked about breaking the term limits pledge he made when he first ran for the U.S. House in 2012. He said then that he would serve only three terms but is now about to finish his fifth term while running for the Senate.

“I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” he said Tuesday. “I’d never been involved in politics. My first political event I went to was the one I stood up and said, ‘I’m running for office.’ And when you get up there, you start realizing, holy cow, you can’t do anything by yourself. You can have these great ideas, but unless you have relationships, unless you’re able to get 218 people to agree with you, you can’t move.

“So when our time was coming towards an end, I told my wife, ‘I’ve still got more fight in me. As long as I can make a difference for Oklahoma, I want to be in that fight.'”

More:Markwayne Mullin is latest frontrunner to skip debates. Here's why it's a common strategy.

Ukraine aid debated

The only real conflict came about a bill that Mullin supported in May appropriating $41 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Mullin voted for the bill and argued Tuesday that all of the military aid was to replenish stockpiles of weapons sent to Ukraine from the United States. He accused Shannon, who opposed the package, of not reading the bill when Shannon contradicted him.

Mullin claimed, “Not one dollar of that $40 billion was actually sent directly to Ukraine, but like I said, if you’d read the bill, you’d understand it,” Mullin said.

“Congressman, that is absolutely swamp talk,” Shannon said, adding that “a good portion of that bill is going directly to Ukraine.”

A House Appropriations Committee summary of the legislation says $9 billion was for replenishing U.S. equipment stocks but that there was $6 billion “to provide assistance, including training, equipment, weapons, logistics support, supplies and services, salaries and stipends, sustainment, and intelligence support to the military and national security forces of Ukraine.”

The bill also included about $14 billion in humanitarian aid, including nearly $9 billion for the Economic Support Fund "to respond to emergent needs in Ukraine, provide needed budget support to assist with Ukraine’s continuity of government, and counter human trafficking,” the committee summary states.

More:T.W. Shannon barnstorms Oklahoma in an attempt to overtake Markwayne Mullin

Inhofe stepping down

Inhofe, 87, who has been in the Senate since 1994, announced in February that he would step aside when the current Congress ends early next year. Inhofe won reelection in 2020 and his successor will have four years left on the term.

Former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, an Oklahoma City Democrat, will face the GOP nominee on Nov. 8, along with Libertarian Robert Murphy and independent Ray Woods.

Horn, 46, an attorney, held a campaign gathering in Oklahoma City on Tuesday at the same time as the GOP debate.

Mullin had spent about $2.8 million on campaigning through June and had nearly $534,000 left at the end of that month. He recently launched his first ad for the runoff campaign touting his endorsement from Trump.

Shannon spent $1.02 million to get into the runoff and had less than $48,000 in his campaign account at the end of June. Shannon has been making public appearances across the state but, by Wednesday, had not launched an ad campaign on network affiliates for the runoff.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Mullin, Shannon debate produces few sparks as runoff nears