TULSA, Okla. — U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin and T.W. Shannon will face off in a runoff for the Republican bid in the race for retiring U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's seat.
Mullin received significantly more votes than Shannon but needed to receive 50 percent of the vote plus one to win the nomination.
The runoff is Aug. 23.
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Original Story:
The primary vote for several key races in Oklahoma is scheduled for June 28, including the Republican primary to decide a candidate to replace U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK).
Inhofe, 87, announced his retirement in February, opting to continue serving through the end of the year. He'd served in the Senate since 1994 and has served in elected office since the 1960s.
Several Republican candidates put their names in the running to replace Inhofe in the special election:
Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) is running for Inhofe's seat after serving in the Oklahoma State Senate since 2012. Dahm is a Broken Arrow native who spent several years living in Romania, including missionary work.
Inhofe's retirement announcement came hand-in-hand with his endorsement of Luke Holland to replace him. Holland had been serving as Inhofe's chief of staff.
Holland is a Bartlesville native and University of Arkansas graduate.
U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK District 2) is looking to jump to the Senate for the next phase of his career at the Capitol. Mullin has served as District 2's U.S. representative since 2013.
He took over his father's plumbing business which he still owns in Oklahoma. His House seat term runs out after this election, leaving his seat up for grabs this year too.
Scott Pruitt is reentering the Oklahoma political sphere after a scandal-riddled stint as head of the Environmental Protection Agency under then-President Donald Trump.
Pruitt served as Oklahoma Attorney General from 2011 to 2017. He's a Kentucky native who attended law school at the University of Tulsa and served in the Oklahoma State Senate before becoming the Attorney General.
T.W. Shannon is getting another shot at running for one of Oklahoma's U.S. Senate seats after losing to James Lankford in the 2014 Republican Primary. Shannon had served in the Oklahoma State House from 2006 to 2014 where he eventually became the first African-American Speaker of the House in the state.
Shannon is an Oklahoma native who went to law school at Oklahoma City University.
Other candidates who filed to run:
- Michael Coibion
- Jessica Garrison
- Alex Gray
- Randy Grellner
- Adam Holley
- Laura Moreno
- Paul Royse
- John Tompkins
Kendra Horn is running unopposed as the Democratic challenge to whoever wins the Republican Primary.
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