Oklahoma voters will decide four Congressional races this fall
Oklahomans will decide four U.S. House of Representatives races in November. Every contest features a Republican incumbent squaring off against a Democratic challenger. Independent candidates are also running in three of the races.
The state's fifth and final seat in the House will return to Republican Rep. Frank Lucas, who represents western Oklahoma. Lucas, who was first elected to Congress in 1994, secured his seat in the June Republican Party primary election. He won 73% of the vote against challengers, Darren Hamilton and Robin Lynn Carder. He serves on three House committees, including agriculture, financial services and science, space and technology.
More: How to register to vote in Oklahoma
Here are the congressional races that will be on voters' ballots.
District 1
Incumbent Republican Kevin Hern faces two challengers for this Tulsa-area seat: Democratic candidate Dennis Baker and independent candidate Mark Sanders.
Hern has served since 2018. He is a business owner who purchased a McDonald’s restaurant in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and would eventually come to franchise 24 locations in Oklahoma. He and his wife also own Custom Seating and Interiors, which supplies seating and decor to restaurants, according to his House biography.
Baker, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, currently practices law in Tulsa, according to his website. He has also served as a Tulsa police officer and an FBI special agent.
Sanders is a fourth-generation Oklahoman who works as a lawyer in bankruptcy and reorganization law, and has been appointed to local government boards and commissions. He is also a cancer survivor, according to his website.
District 2
Incumbent Republican Josh Brecheen drew two opponents in this eastern Oklahoma race: independent candidate Ronnie Hopkins and Democrat candidate Brandon Wade.
Brecheen is a fourth-generation Coal County rancher who was elected to Congress in 2022. From 2010 to 2018, he served in the state Senate, where he achieved a voting record as the “third most conservative senator,“ according to his House biography.
Wade is a third-generation union worker and has been the committee chairman and vice president of the executive board of a local union, where he helped negotiate labor contracts, according to his website.
Hopkins has campaigned with a plan, detailed on his website, to turn Social Security funds into self-managed trust funds.
District 4
Incumbent Republican Tom Cole faces two opponents vying for his seat representing southern Oklahoma: Democrat Mary Brannon and independent James Stacy.
Cole is serving his 11th term in the U.S. House and is the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Before he was elected to Congress, Cole was a state senator for Oklahoma and once the secretary of state. He also led Oklahoma’s effort to secure federal funds to assist in the rebuilding of Oklahoma City after the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. He is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, according to his House biography.
Brannon, who worked as a school counselor and teacher in Purcell for more than 20 years, said she supports improving veterans affairs, making health care affordable and stabilizing the Social Security and Medicare systems, according to her website.
Stacy’s campaign platform includes support for women’s reproductive rights, marijuana deregulation, federal business tax incentives and affordable housing, according to his website.
More: Three candidates compete for seat on Oklahoma Corporation Commission
District 5
Incumbent Republican Stephanie Bice faces Democrat Madison Horn in the race to represent Oklahoma City and parts of central Oklahoma.
Bice, who was elected in 2020, serves on the House appropriations, administration and science, space and technology committees. She was previously a state senator who chaired the Senate Finance Committee.
Horn is a seventh-generation Oklahoman who works as the CEO of a cybersecurity firm in Oklahoma City. Horn, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, also advises policymakers on cybersecurity issues, according to her website.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahomans will vote in four U.S. House of Representatives races
