Educators running for Oklahoma office swell candidate ranks

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Growing frustration about Oklahoma’s looming budget crisis and cuts to public schools prompted dozens of political newcomers to run for office and swelled the number of candidates to an all-time high for a presidential election year.

At the close of a three-day filing period on Friday, 417 candidates filed for office, many of them teachers or former teachers who decided to challenge Republican incumbents they perceived as not sufficiently supportive funding for public schools. That bested the previous presidential-year record of 412 candidates set in 2004, when the first wave of term limits forced dozens of legislators from office.

“There is certainly a lot of attention and interest in what’s happening at the state Capitol right now because of the budget situation, and that has translated into an increased number of candidates,” said Trebor Worthen, a former state representative who now works as a GOP political consultant.

“But ultimately all these incumbents who drew challengers can take solace in the fact that many of them seem to be ill-prepared and last-minute (candidates). There aren’t many incumbents who are facing challengers who have been out knocking doors and raising money for months.”

In the top Oklahoma race on the ballot, Republican U.S. Sen. James Lankford is seeking a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate. Although Lankford didn’t draw a GOP challenger, two Democrats, two Libertarians and two independents filed for the seat on Friday.

A former House member who won a special election in 2014 to finish the last two years of Dr. Tom Coburn’s term, Lankford said he has positioned himself well to help Oklahoma with assignments to several key Senate committees, including those overseeing appropriations, homeland security, intelligence and Indian affairs.

“Our single biggest issue that we face as a nation federally is still our budget issues,” Lankford said. “That’s going to be a long, hard process, and it’s going to take some time to be able to unwind it.”

All of Oklahoma’s five Republican U.S. House members will face challengers this cycle. In the 1st Congressional District, two Republicans and an independent filed against U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, who is seeking his third and final term in office. In the 2nd Congressional District in eastern Oklahoma, U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin faces a GOP primary challenger, along with two Democrats and an independent who filed for the seat.

One Republican and one Democrat filed against U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas in western Oklahoma’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District, while U.S. Rep. Tom Cole of Moore has two Republicans, two Democrats and a Libertarian trying to unseat him from the 4th District seat. And in the 5th Congressional District seat that includes Oklahoma City, U.S. Rep. Steve Russell of Oklahoma City drew a GOP challenger, three Democrats and a Libertarian.

In the only statewide Oklahoma race on the ballot, incumbent Republican Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy will face longtime Democratic state Rep. Richard Morrissette in a race for a six-year term on the regulator panel.

In the Oklahoma Legislature, all of the state senators up for re-election drew at least one opponent, while only 14 current House members – four Democrats and ten Republicans – went unopposed. By comparison, in 2014 a total of 58 incumbent representatives and senators went unopposed.

Oklahoma’s primary election will be on June 28, with a runoff primary election set for Aug. 23 if no candidate gets a majority of votes in the primary. The general election is Nov. 8.

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