As an Independent voter in Oklahoma, I am in an interesting position. I am not allowed to vote in any of the primaries in the state, despite having a stake and interest in the outcomes of those elections. In many primaries, the outcome determines the winner of a particular seat. In others, it determines who will be on the November ballot. But in all cases, I am excluded along with hundreds of thousands of other Oklahoma voters.
So there are a number of primary races going on in Oklahoma. Some extremely important, some less so. But in all of them, we have a lot we can learn from. I will probably explore all of these races in detail soon, but for now, these are the primaries that I find most interesting or have an impact on me directly.
- Full US Senate Term Republican Primary: Senator Jim Inhofe has a lot of challengers to his Senate Seat. He is likely to win as he has far more money than any of his primary challengers. We will look more at who is running against him soon.
- Two Year US Senate Term: There are both Republican and Democratic primaries happening for this. There are a number of big names going for both nominations. We will explore them all.
- Governor Republican Primary: May Fallin has received challenges within her own party. Will she stand up to them?
- US House District 2: Markwayne Mullin has a primary challenger and we have a Democratic primary as well.
- US House District 3: Frank Lucas has two primary challengers.
- US House District 4: My home district. Tom Cole has a republican challenger and Democratic rivals in a primary.
- US House District 5: James Lankford left his seat to seek the US Senate. This has attracted a wide slate of candidates.
- State Superintendent: Janet Barresi doesn’t seem to have made any friends. She has several primary challengers as well as a Democratic primary.
I haven’t seen any State House or Senate seats that really peak my interest, but if I find any, I will surely talk about them.