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« Oklahoma Senate (Special Election)
OKLAHOMA |
Nov. 4,
2014 U.S. Senate (Special
Election)
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Plurality: 319,079 votes (38.87 percentage points). OK State Election Board
Notes: This was an open seat. Sen. Tom Coburn (R) announced on Jan. 14, 2014 that he would retire at the end of the 113th Congress. On Jan. 17, Gov. Mary Fallin (R) set the special election primary and general elections for the same dates as the already scheduled election contests, June 24 and Nov. 4. A competitive Republican primary contest developed between U.S. Rep. James Lankford, who served 22 years in ministry and was elected to Congress representing the 5th CD (much of Oklahoma County) in 2010, and former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon, a Chickasaw and African American seen as a Republican rising star. In the June 24 primary, 266,858 votes were tallied; Lankford (57.24%) defeated Shannon (34.42%) and five others. On the Democratic side, Johnson, who is African American, was first elected to the state Senate representing the 48th District (NE Oklahoma County) in a 2005 special election after working more than a decade as a legislative analyst in the state Senate. In the Democratic primary, Johnson (43.84%) and perennial candidate Jim Rogers (35.34%) qualified for the runoff, while Patrick Michael Hayes (20.82%) finished third; 163,003 votes were tallied. Johnson prevailed in the Aug. 26 runoff by 57.99% to 42.01% of 94,426 votes cast. Lankford and Johnson debated on Oct. 7 at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater (>). On Nov. 4, Lankford easily defeated Johnson to to fill out the remainder of the term. He faces another election in 2016. This race was extremely lopsided financially; according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Lankford campaign spent $4.4 million to a bit under $150,000 for the Johnson campaign. Campaign Managers: James Lankford Holly Isch Served as office manager to Rep. Lankford from Jan. 2011. Previously worked at the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Connie Johnson. Bailey Perkins, Colletta Harper |
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