Markwayne Mullin beats T.W. Shannon, Madison Horn to face Lankford

U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin easily captured the Republican nomination on Tuesday in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, beating Oklahoma City bank executive T.W. Shannon.

With 1,696 of 1,984 precincts reporting, Mullin had 66% of the vote and Shannon had 34%.

Mullin thanked his family and supporters in Tulsa on Tuesday night and said, "The fight is not over. It's far from being over. They’re trying to change the foundation this country was built on … And it’s not okay for us to just sit back and just take it."

Mullin will face former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, an Oklahoma Democrat, in the general election, along with Libertarian Robert Murphy and independent Ray Woods.

In the Democratic contest to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. James Lankford this fall, cybersecurity expert and political newcomer Madison Horn defeated Oklahoma City attorney Jason Bollinger.

Kendra Horn and Madison Horn are not related, though there was apparently some confusion about that. Bollinger tweeted a reminder on Tuesday morning that Kendra Horn was not on the ballot

US Senate race will determine who succeeds the retiring Jim Inhofe

Inhofe announced in February he would step aside when the new Congress begins early next year.

Mullin, 45, of Westville, who is serving his tenth year in the House, was one of the first candidates to jump into the race, and he nearly won the GOP nomination outright on June 28, taking 44% of the vote in a 13-person Republican field. Shannon received 17.5%.

After the June primary, Mullin won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump and made that the centerpiece of his runoff advertising campaign. Shannon struggled to raise money for broadcast ads, but stayed on the road for several weeks, campaigning in three or four towns a day.

For Shannon, 44, the former speaker of the Oklahoma House, it was the second time he tried to beat a sitting congressman seeking an open U.S. Senate seat. In 2014, he lost to Lankford, then a U.S. House member, in the Republican race to replace Sen. Tom Coburn.

The race never turned negative, likely owing to the fact that Mullin had a big lead and Trump’s backing. The only major policy difference came on aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia; Mullin voted for a $42 billion aid package that Shannon said he would have opposed.

In Tulsa on Tuesday night, Mullin said many people had feared a divisive, negative race for the nomination.

"T.W. and I’s goal when we started this race − we wanted to be friends afterward," Mullin said. "And we achieved that."

Kendra Horn, who served in the House with Mullin for two years, held a town hall meeting in Lawton on Tuesday.

“I have been traveling across this state talking to Oklahomans and they are tired of the extremism and division,” she said.

“I have proven myself time and again to be accessible, reasonable, and responsible.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Mullin wins GOP nomination in Oklahoma runoff election for US Senate