OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — US Representative Mark Wayne Mullin has become a likely winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary for one of the US Senate seats in Oklahoma.
Marin, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, defeated former Oklahoma House Speaker and banking executive TW Shannon in June after two advances from a 13-member Republican primary. With Inhofe retiring early, Mullin will serve the remaining four years of his Inhofe term.
“Thank you for giving our family this opportunity,” said Mullin, 45, at a watch party in Tulsa surrounded by his wife and six children.
Marin, who won the primary with nearly 44% of the vote, won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump shortly after the primary.
Both Marin and Shannon have been integral figures in Republican politics in Oklahoma since the 1960s and were seeking to replace Inhoef, who has held the U.S. Senate seat since being elected in 1994.
Mullin will join the nonpartisan libertarians in November’s general election, where he will have a big backing against former Democratic congressman Kendra Horne. In Oklahoma he has not been elected to the Senate by a Democrat for over 30 years.
In a state where nearly 10% of the population identifies as Native American, both Marin and Shannon are members of Native American tribes. Marin is a Cherokee citizen and Shannon is an African-American who is also a Chickasaw citizen.
“I didn’t know being Cherokee was special until I went to Washington, D.C.,” Mullin told reporters during his campaign in Norman on Tuesday.
If elected in November, Mullin would be the first Native American tribe member registered with the U.S. Senate since Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell left the Senate in 2005, according to U.S. Senate records. .
Mullin has raised about $3.6 million, according to campaign finance reports. That’s almost triple the $1.3 million Shannon reportedly raised.
In campaign ads and stumps, both men promoted their positions on hot issues and vowed to fight President Joe Biden’s policy agenda. called Hood “the true face of white supremacy”. Marin said in an ad featuring a montage of her two children and transgender college swimmer Leah Thomas: Tell me what is a woman?
Also on Tuesday, cybersecurity expert Madison Horne defeated Oklahoma City attorney Jason Bollinger in the Democratic primary for another U.S. Senate seat in Oklahoma. Horn, who is not related to Kendra Horn, will take on incumbent Republican Senator James Lankford in November, a front-runner for Republicans and independents.
In the race for an open U.S. House seat in Marin, in eastern Oklahoma, Republican Josh Bresheen (former Colegate Senator) won the race after the two emerged as the top two candidates on June 14. , defeated Rep. Avery Flix of Muskogee in the Republican runoff. – Candidate primary. Brecheen will face his Naomi Andrews of Tulsa Democrats and Ben Robinson of Muskogee independents in his November.
Also on Tuesday’s ballot were Republican primaries for several statewide offices, including state education superintendent, state treasurer, labor commissioner, and business commissioner.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
