With Filing Deadline Approaching, State’s Congressional Delegation Not Seeing Much Opposition
Oklahoma’s congressional delegation faces few challengers as filing deadline nears
By Chris Casteel
WASHINGTON — With the election filing period set to begin in less than two weeks, no opposition from either party has emerged to challenge U.S. Sen. James Lankford, giving the Oklahoma City Republican a clear path to a full term.
Lankford, elected in 2014 to serve the last two years of Sen. Tom Coburn’s term, said any Republican thinking about a primary race against him is “going to have to hustle,” given the short time between filing and the June 28 primary.
Truly, candidates hoping to run a statewide race against a popular incumbent would have needed to start hustling many months ago and have at least a couple of million dollars.
Lankford spent $4 million in 2014 to win the seat — his only real competition was in the GOP primary — and he was a sitting congressman with statewide name recognition from his time running a huge Christian summer camp.