T.W. Shannon barnstorms Oklahoma in effort to overtake Markwayne Mullin

Trailing in first-round results and campaign cash, T.W. Shannon embarked on a barnstorming tour of Oklahoma last week in his effort to overtake U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin in the Republican race to succeed U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe.

“On this tour, we are crisscrossing every corner of our state to hear the concerns of everyday Oklahomans, ask them for their vote and remind 'We the people' to never give up on America,” the former Oklahoma House speaker said.

Shannon, CEO of the Chickasaw Community Bank, in Oklahoma City, said he would make 100 campaign stops before the Aug. 23 runoff to pick the GOP nominee for the seat held by Inhofe since 1994.

Mullin, of Westville, got 43.6% of the vote in the 13-person primary on June 28 but needed 50% plus one vote to capture the nomination outright. Shannon received 17.5% of the vote.

Trump endorses Markwayne Mullin despite T.W. Shannon's campaigning for former president

Last week, former President Donald Trump endorsed Mullin in the race. Mullin, serving his fifth term in Congress, co-authored resolutions this year to expunge Trump’s two impeachments by the House. Shannon campaigned for Trump’s reelection in 2020 as co-leader of Black Voices for Trump.

Campaign finance reports filed last week showed Mullin finished June with nearly $534,000 remaining in his account, while Shannon’s warchest was down to about $48,000.

Mullin began the race with about $1 million already in his congressional campaign account, and he loaned the campaign $1 million in personal funds. His campaign reported spending a total of $3.47 million through June, though that would include about $536,000 spent by his congressional campaign before the Senate race began. Shannon has raised just over $1 million, counting $150,000 in personal funds.

Both campaigns were boosted by outside spending. A group called Oklahoma Conservative Alliance spent $1.4 million on Shannon’s behalf, mostly on television ads. Three groups spent to boost Mullin’s campaign, though only two filed reports with the Federal Election Commission. A political action committee called Defend US reported spending $716,000 and another called Crypto Innovation reported spending about $167,000. A dark money group called Oklahoma First has also bought television time to boost Mullin.

Mullin’s campaign did not provide a comment about the congressman’s campaign schedule for the next few weeks. He has agreed to appear at a forum on July 23rd with the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and in a statewide televised debate on Aug. 2.

The House is scheduled to be in session for the next two weeks but out for all of August.

Inhofe announced in February that he would step down early next year with four years left on his term, and Gov. Kevin Stitt called a special election to coincide with the elections already scheduled.

The Republican nominee will face former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, an Oklahoma City Democrat, who reported last week having over $338,000 in her campaign account. Horn had door-to-door campaigning scheduled this weekend in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Libertarian Robert Murphy and independent Ray Woods will also be on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. Neither has filed candidacy reports with the Federal Election Commission.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: T.W. Shannon starts Oklahoma tour in effort to catch Markwayne Mullin