Lankford, Shannon Approach Jobs, Campaign Differently
Senate hopefuls James Lankford, T.W. Shannon approach day jobs differently
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
The two leading candidates to succeed U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn seem to be taking different approaches to their day jobs.
First District Congressman James Lankford has resisted letting the campaign interfere with his work in the U.S. House. Until missing 10 votes on Thursday and Friday, Lankford had answered 129 of 131 roll call votes taken since he decided to run for the U.S. Senate.
“I still have a job to do,” he said. “I’m still going to do that job.”
Former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon, who still represents District 62 in southwest Oklahoma, has missed 305 of 385 votes this session, which began just after Shannon declared his candidacy for the Senate.
Officially, he’s been absent 11 of 36 days the House has met, though Shannon has often failed to vote even on days he is listed as present by the House clerk.