Last week, I wrote that Governor Mary Fallin, despite not officially announcing her reelection bid, has been gearing up for the coming 2014 election. She is not alone. News 9 in Oklahoma City is reporting that Senator James Inhofe and Representative Tom Cole, of US House District 4, have both raised over $1million each towards their respective 2014 reelection bids. According to data from the 2012 election, Tom Cole spent a little over $1million to win his reelection.
How does that compare to their counterparts in the other 4 Oklahoma House seats? We took a look at the Federal Election Commission campaign reporting tool to find out. According to most recent data, James Bridenstein, of District 1, has raised $17,000; Markwayne Mullin, of District 2, has raised $117,724; Frank Lucas, of District 3, has raised $285,590; and James Lankford has raised $314,752. These are all a far cry from what Tom Cole and Senator Inhofe have raised, but that can change as election season approaches.
News 9 also alludes to potential challengers to the above candidates. While News 9 only mentions challengers to Cole and Inhofe, there is one other declared challenger at this time. According to FEC filings, the known challengers are Democratic candidates Tae Hee Si, taking on Tom Cole and having raised $3,324 so far, Thomas Guild, taking on James Lankford and having raised $2,953, and Matt Silverstein, taking on James Inhofe. There are no other challengers declared at this time, but that can change.
There are most assuredly going to be other challengers from both duopoly parties as well as Independent candidates in the coming months. These candidates have just not made it official with the FEC. We will see Independent challengers to all these candidates. This past election saw at least one Independent Candidate in each Congressional election and the 2010 Senate race had two Independent candidates. It is just a matter of time before we find out who. As soon as we find out, we will write about them and let you know.
