OKLAHOMA CITY Okla.-Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) on June 28 secured the most votes in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate but did not clear the 50 percent threshold necessary to avoid a runoff.
With 73 percent of the votes reported at 10: 33 p.m. on June 28, Mullin received 43 percent of the vote followed by T.W. Shannon, who advanced with 17 percent, according to Decision Desk HQ.
The winner of the runoff will be widely predicted to win the general election on Nov. 8, deep red states, and take the seat vacated in November by Senator Jim Inhofe (R.Okla .)
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Kendra Horn, who served as a U.S. representative in Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District from 2019 to 2020, was unopposed in the Democratic primary and will face the winner of the runoff in November.
Thirteen Republican candidates battled to replace Inhofe, who took office in 1994 and was elected to a fifth term in 2020 before announcing in February 2022 that he would retire, effective January 3, 2023.
Mullin, a former professional mixed martial arts fighter who was first elected to Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District in 2013, held a comfortable lead in the polls. He had also a three-to-1 fundraising advantage over other candidates.
The 44-year-old Mullin owns Mullin Plumbing and Mullin Farms among several other businesses. He supports the America First platform of Donald Trump and is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and the prolife movement.
A former Oklahoma House speaker, Shannon finished second to Sen. James Lankford in the 2014 GOP primary. He was an Oklahoma state representative from 2006 to 2014 before leaving the state legislature and serving as CEO of Chickasaw Community Bank in Oklahoma City.
Shannon is a Chickasaw tribal member and has been awarded $1.7million from the Oklahoma Conservative Alliance. This super PAC supports him exclusively.
Mullin, Shannon share similar opinions on many topics including religion, the Second Amendment and abortion. Shannon, like Mullin is pro-Trump. Both of these candidates are not shy in expressing their opinions.
Shannon is black and is opposed to abortion. In May, she tweeted that “Black babies were targeted by the abortion lobby & the Dems from day one.” You won’t dare to say “Black Lives Matter” until you acknowledge that black babies are important .”
Shannon speaks out against America’s systemic racism.
” This narrative says that unless someone is from a particular zip code or of a certain heritage then America won’t work. Shannon said this to KOCO News 5 Oklahoma City. I’m the proof .”
that this narrative is false.
In late April, Mullin introduced Partial-Birth Abortion is Murder Act. This was in reaction to five unidentified fetuses found in Washington D.C.
If signed into law, the legislation would increase penalties for individuals who violate the Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003 to a minimum of five years and a maximum of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On the 7th of June, before Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, a pro-abortion militant group known as Jane’s Revenge vowed to unrest and vandalized a Asheville pregnancy center, N.C. and wrote threatening graffiti.
The same organisation is credited for more than 12 attacks on churches and pregnant centers in the past few months.
Several Republicans in Congress, including Mullin, urged Department of Homeland Security not to label Jane’s Revenge a domestic terrorist organisation.
“It is past time that the Biden Administration stops with complacency, and investigates those members for what they really are: domestic terrorists,” Mullin stated to reporters.
Mullin met his wife Christie in elementary school. They have six children together, three biological, and three adopted.
The couple attempted to have children for seven years, but Christie developed endometriosis. Mullin said that this was because Christie had been trying since childhood. Christie suffered a miscarriage that was “emotionally devastating” for her and Mullin.
“It’s hard to believe anyone would think it’s a fetus and want to end their life,” Mullin said to The Epoch Times. Mullin said that she admires mothers who gave birth to their children to allow parents without the ability to have them.
” These are the future leaders, parents, entrepreneurs and future Americans and they should be allowed to have children,” stated Mullin who is Cherokee. While Roe V. Wade is a good start, we must continue fighting for the protection of all babies .”
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In a deeply red state all the candidates for president are supporters of Trump. However, Trump has never endorsed any candidate. Trump won Oklahoma with 65 percent of the vote in 2020.
Mullin does not guarantee victory in a second round, even if he has a significant lead in polls. According to Mark Yates, a political consultant from Oklahoma City.
” The landscape is completely reset” after a runoff Yates said.
If Yates is right, Shannon will be in the best position.
Mullin believes that runoffs are a good idea for those candidates who have fallen behind the polls.
” If I were in second, I would love to see a runoff.” Mullin said with a smile when asked by The Epoch Times about runoffs. It’s different when you lead in the polls and finish first.
” If a runoff occurs, and we’re there, it’s like starting a campaign from scratch,” Mullin said. “You only have one opponent instead of 12, and it is important to reach as many people as possible since, typically, runoffs have a lower voter turnout.”
In the Republican primary to Oklahoma’s second Senate seat, Lankford defeated Jackson Lahmeyer (a Tulsa pastor and businessman).
Lankford, who was first elected to his Senate seat in 2014, secured 74 percent of the vote.
Lahmeyer, who was backed by Trump adviser Roger Stone and former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, received 20 percent.
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Jeff Louderback, a National Reporter for The Epoch Times, is based out of Ohio. He covers the U.S. Senate and U.S. House as well as the gubernatorial races within Ohio and other surrounding states.
