United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, 2014

See also: Oklahoma elections, 2014

United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, 2014

November 4, 2014

125px Nominee James Lankford Constance N. Johnson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 557,002 237,923 Percentage 67.9 % 29.0%

300px County results

U.S. senator before election Tom Coburn Republican Elected U.S. Senator James Lankford Republican

The 2014 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Oklahoma, concurrently with the regularly-scheduled election to Oklahoma's other Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

This special election was held to fill the remaining two years of incumbent Republican Senator Tom Coburn's second term. Coburn, a strong supporter of term limits, had announced even before he was elected to the Senate in 2004 that he would only serve for two terms. After he was re-elected in 2010, he reaffirmed that he would not run for re-election in 2016.

In January 2014, Coburn announced he would resign at the end of the 113th United States Congress on January 3, 2015. As pursuant to Oklahoma law, he has submitted an "irrevocable letter of resignation" to take effect on that day. Thus, the special election was held while he was still in office.

Unlike most states, except in very specific circumstances, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin does not have the power to appoint a replacement Senator. Instead, state law required her to schedule the special election "as soon as practicable".

Primary elections were held on June 24, 2014. The Republicans nominated U.S. Representative James Lankford; as no candidate in the Democratic primary received more than 50% of the vote, a primary runoff election was held on August 26 between State Senator Constance N. Johnson and perennial candidate Jim Rogers, which Johnson won. In the general election, Lankford defeated Johnson in a landslide and was sworn in on the day Coburn's resignation took effect. Lankford is running for re-election to a full six-year term in 2016.

Republican primary

By April 2014, Lankford and T.W. Shannon were seen as the main contenders for the Republican nomination, with Brogdon a potential spoiler who was running even further to the right than they did. Although there was reported to be "little daylight ideologically" between Lankford and Shannon, and both are associated with the Tea Party movement, Shannon attracted the support of figures including Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Sarah Palin and organizations including FreedomWorks and the Senate Conservatives Fund. They criticized Lankford for his votes to raise the debt ceiling and for being a member of the Republican House leadership. Supporters of Lankford, including the Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, pointed out Shannon's ties to the establishment-supporting Congressman Tom Cole, accused Cruz, Lee, Palin and the others of being "outsiders" who were attempting to meddle in the state's primary, and also pointed out that the aforementioned had previously criticized Coburn, whom they were now praising in an attempt to woo him into supporting Shannon. Local Tea Party groups also criticised the national conservatives, saying in an open letter that they had endorsed Shannon without consulting them or examining his record, that Shannon was a "poser" who had "had never stepped foot" in a Tea Party meeting before announcing his run for the Senate and "no longer attends grassroots meetings nor does he seek the grassroots support".

In June, Coburn responded to attack ads calling Lankford a "Washington insider" who "votes with liberals" by saying that "political advertisements by groups... supporting T.W. Shannon have crossed an important line — they simply aren't truthful and they mischaracterize James Lankford's service in Congress." He also called Lankford "a man of absolute integrity" who was "one of the most honest, thoughtful and sincere men I have met in my time in Washington." He also praised Lankford's "life experience", "perspective" and willingness to fight the "status quo", but stopped short of fully endorsing him. He did however say that "as a voter", the negative ads from pro-Shannon groups made him question Shannon's ability to govern.

By mid-June, Lankford was considered to have the momentum, a reversal of fortunes, though a runoff was considered likely. Shannon's negative advertisements were considered to have backfired, in contrast to Lankford's advertisements, which were largely positive. Lankford also raised and spent more money than Shannon, who was not significantly helped financially by national conservative groups, who had focused their attention on the primary runoff in Mississippi between incumbent Senator Thad Cochran and conservative challenger Chris McDaniel. The runoff in Mississippi was held on the same day as the primary in Oklahoma and Alexandra Jaffe of The Hill reported that Shannon's best hope was to force a runoff, which would allow the national groups to refocus on Oklahoma. Outside spending for Shannon was $1.8m compared to $170,000 for Lankford but Lankford spent $1.8m to Shannon's $1.1m.

In what was considered a surprise result, Lankford defeated Shannon by over 20%, negating the need for a runoff. Lankford ran a strong, well-organised campaign, considered by Congressman Tom Cole to be "probably the best organization in the state that was operating at this time". He was also helped by his "existing statewide presence grounded in the state's burgeoning Baptist community", which goes back to his time before politics when he ran the Falls Creek Baptist Youth Camp, and the fact that his congressional district is based in Oklahoma City, where turnout was predicted to be high because there was also a competitive race in the Republican primary to succeed him. To attempt to counteract that, Shannon targeted the media market in Tulsa. Finally, unlike in other races, there was no split between the establishment and the Tea Party, with Shannon not capitalising on an "anti-establishment" wave that benefited others like Ben Sasse in Nebraska. Cole summarised: "We don’t need people coming in and telling us who conservatives are, [because] everybody is a conservative. There are no moderates." State Senator David Holt, who supported Shannon, said that Coburn's comments about Lankford were the most important factor, saying that "Senator Coburn is enormously respected in Oklahoma, and when it appeared that he had a preference, I think that the voters listened."

Candidates

Declared

• Randy Brogdon, former State Senator and candidate for Governor in 2010
• Andy Craig, Army Veteran and sales professional
• Kevin Crow, college professor
• James Lankford, U.S. Representative
• Eric McCray, businessman
• T.W. Shannon, State Representative and former Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
• Jason Weger, paramedic

Declined

• Jim Bridenstine, U.S. Representative
• Tom Cole, U.S. Representative
• Patrice Douglas, State Corporation Commissioner and former Mayor of Edmond (running for OK-05)
• Mary Fallin, Governor of Oklahoma
• Frank Keating, former Governor of Oklahoma
• Todd Lamb, Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma
• Frank Lucas, U.S. Representative
• Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Representative
• Scott Pruitt, Attorney General of Oklahoma
• J. C. Watts, former U.S. Representative

Endorsements

Randy Brogdon
Organizations Oklahoma Conservative PAC Tulsa Area Republicans Assembly

James Lankford
Individuals Trey Gowdy, United States Representative from South Carolina Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas and candidate for President in 2008 Darrell Issa, United States Representative from California State Legislators Senator Rick Brinkley Senator Mike Mazzei Senator Dan Newberry Senator Gary Stanislawski

T.W. Shannon

Individuals Ben Carson, surgeon and speaker Ted Cruz, United States Senator from Texas Erick Erickson, conservative political commentator and editor-in-chief of RedState Mike Lee, United States Senator from Utah Mark Levin, conservative radio host, author, and constitutional scholar Ken Miller, Oklahoma State Treasurer Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee J. C. Watts, former U.S. Representative (OK-04) Organizations The American Conservative Union Citizens United FreedomWorks GOPAC Senate Conservatives Fund State Legislators Representative Don Armes Representative John Bennett Representative Gus Blackwell Representative David Brumbaugh Representative Dennis Casey Representative Mike Christian Representative Bobby Cleveland Representative Ann Coody Representative Lee Denney Representative David Derby Representative Jon Echols Representative Katie Henke Senator David Holt Representative Arthur Hulbert Representative Mike Jackson Representative Dennis Johnson Senator Rob Johnson Representative Charlie Joyner Representative Dan Kirby Senator Kyle Loveless Representative Scott Martin Representative Steve Martin Representative Charles McCall Representative Mark McCullough Representative Randy McDaniel Representative Skye McNiel Representative Lewis Moore Representative Jason Murphey Representative Tom Newell Representative Jadine Nollan Representative Terry O’Donnell Representative Leslie Osborn Representative Pat Ownbey Representative Pam Peterson Representative Marty Quinn Representative Dustin Roberts Representative Todd Russ Representative Mike Sanders Representative Colby Schwartz Representative Earl Sears Senator Ralph Shortey Representative Jason Smalley Representative Aaron Stiles Representative Todd Thomsen Representative John Trebilcock Representative Steve Vaughan Representative Ken Walker Representative Weldon Watson Representative Paul Wesselhoft Representative Justin Wood Representative Harold Wright

Declined to endorse
Jim Bridenstine, U.S. Representative (OK-01) Tom Coburn, incumbent U.S. Senator Tom Cole, U.S. Representative (OK-04) Mary Fallin, Governor of Oklahoma Jim Inhofe, U.S. Senator (OK) Frank Lucas, U.S. Representative (OK-03) Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Representative (OK-02)

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Randy Brogdon	Andy Craig	Kevin Crow	James Lankford	Eric McCray	T.W. Shannon	J. C. Watts	Jason Weger	Other	Undecided
SoonerPoll	June 19–21, 2014	840	± 3.38%	4.2%	0.4%	1.4%	43.4%	0.9%	34.9%	—	1.5%	—	13.3%
SoonerPoll	June 14–18, 2014	415	± 4.81%	3%	—	—	41%	—	38%	—	—	2%	16%
Tarrance Group*	June 9–11, 2014	500	± 4.5%	—	—	—	41%	—	34%	—	—	7%	18%
Public Opinion Strategies	June 7–9, 2014	600	± 4.81%	—	—	—	39%	—	37%	—	—	6%	18%
American Viewpoint	May 27–29, 2014	500	± 4.4%	4%	—	—	48%	—	26%	—	—	3%	18%
Tarrance Group*	May 12–14, 2014	501	± 4.5%	5%	—	—	43%	—	33%	—	—	—	18%
SoonerPoll	May 5–10, 2014	580	± 4.07%	4.5%	0.6%	1.7%	33.8%	0.6%	31.9%	—	1.5%	—	25.4%
American Viewpoint	April 27–29, 2014	?	± ?	—	—	—	36%	—	34%	—	—	?	?
NSON Opinion Strategy	April 23–29, 2014	400	± ?	3.5%	1%	0.3%	30.8%	—	32%	—	—	1.0%	32.5%
Public Opinion Strategies	April 21–22, 2014	500	± 4.48%	7%	—	—	32%	—	42%	—	—	3%	16%
Public Opinion Strategies	March 16–17, 2014	500	± 4.38%	7%	—	—	37%	—	28%	—	—	3%	25%
Public Opinion Strategies	February 9–11, 2014	?	± ?	—	—	—	51%	—	16%	—	—	1%	32%
Tarrance Group*	February 10–12, 2014	500	± 4.9%	—	—	3%	47%	—	17%	—	—	—	33%
Harper Polling	Jan. 30–Feb. 1, 2014	627	± 3.91%	—	—	—	37%	—	8%	40%	2%	—	13%
				—	—	—	54%	—	18%	—	1%	—	27%

• * Internal poll for James Lankford campaign

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James Lankford	152,749	57.24
	Republican	T.W. Shannon	91,854	34.42
	Republican	Randy Brogdon	12,934	4.85
	Republican	Kevin Crow	2,828	1.06
	Republican	Andy Craig	2,427	0.91
	Republican	Eric McCray	2,272	0.85
	Republican	Jason Weger	1,794	0.67
Total votes			266,858	100

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Patrick Hayes
• Constance N. Johnson, State Senator
• Jim Rogers, perennial candidate and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010

Withdrew

• Charles Jenkins, retired federal employee

Declined

• Bill Anoatubby, Governor of the Chickasaw Nation
• Jari Askins, former Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma and nominee for Governor in 2010
• Dan Boren, former U.S. Representative
• Clark Brewster, attorney
• Kenneth Corn, former State Senator and nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2010
• Drew Edmondson, former Attorney General of Oklahoma and candidate for Governor in 2010
• Brad Henry, former Governor of Oklahoma
• Kathy Taylor, former Mayor of Tulsa

Endorsements

Constance N. Johnson
Individuals Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist and Baptist minister Organizations Oklahoma AFL-CIO City Sentinel, newspaper Tulsa World, newspaper NORML, marijuana-advocacy organization Oklahoma Democratic Party, the Oklahoma Central Committee of the Oklahoma Democratic Party endorsed Johnson over Rogers

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Patrick Hayes	Constance N. Johnson	Jim Rogers	Other	Undecided
SoonerPoll	June 19–21, 2014	781	± 3.5%	6.4%	13.2%	5.4%	—	75.1%
SoonerPoll	May 5–10, 2014	631	± 3.9%	5%	9.2%	9.4%	—	76.3%

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Constance N. Johnson	71,462	43.84
	Democratic	Jim Rogers	57,598	35.34
	Democratic	Patrick Hayes	33,943	20.82
Total votes			163,003	100

Runoff

Democratic primary runoff results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Constance N. Johnson	54,762	57.99
	Democratic	Jim Rogers	39,664	42.01
Total votes			94,426	100

Independents

Candidates

Declared

• Mark Beard

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	James Lankford (R)	Constance N. Johnson (D)	Other	Undecided
Sooner Poll	October 25–29, 2014	949	± 3.18%	59.4%	28.1%	3.5%	9%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	October 16–23, 2014	995	± 5%	63%	29%	0%	8%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	September 20–October 1, 2014	1,244	± 3%	65%	24%	0%	11%
Sooner Poll	September 27–29, 2014	400	± 4.9%	56%	28%	4%	12%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	August 18–September 2, 2014	821	± 5%	61%	28%	1%	10%
Sooner Poll	August 28–30, 2014	603	± 3.99%	58.2%	28.1%	3%	10.7%
Rasmussen	August 27–28, 2014	750	± 4%	58%	29%	6%	7%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov	July 5–24, 2014	1,302	± 4.7%	56%	34%	6%	5%

Results

Oklahoma US Senate Election (Unexpired Term), 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James Lankford (Incumbent)	557,002	67.85
	Democratic	Connie Johnson	237,923	28.98
	Independent	Mark T. Beard	25,965	3.17
Total votes			820,890	100
	Republican hold

See also

• United States Senate elections, 2014
• United States elections, 2014

External links

• United States Senate special election in Oklahoma, 2014 at Ballotpedia

Official campaign websites

• Randy Brogdon for U.S. Senate
• Andy Craig for U.S. Senate
• Kevin Crow for U.S. Senate
• Connie Johnson for U.S. Senate
• James Lankford for U.S. Senate
• Eric McCray for U.S. Senate
• T.W. Shannon for U.S. Senate
• Jason Weger for U.S. Senate