OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Voters in central Oklahoma on Tuesday will pare down a crowded field of congressional hopefuls seeking to represent the 5th District in Washington.
Nine Republicans are vying for the seat held by first-term U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, the only Democrat in the state’s delegation. The 44-year-old attorney pulled one of the nation’s biggest congressional upsets in 2018 when she won a seat that had been in Republican hands for four decades.
Horn herself also faces a primary opponent in perennial candidate Tom Guild, a retired professor from Edmond.
Horn is one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the nation because she represents a district President Donald Trump won by nearly 14 points in 2016.
Four of the GOP challengers have raised more than $500,000, including businesswoman Terry Neese, state Sen. Stephanie Bice, former State Superintendent Janet Barresi and businessman David Hill. The crowded field makes a primary runoff likely.
Horn has raised more than $3.3 million this cycle, the most of any of the state’s delegation.
Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and U.S. Reps. Markwayne Mullin and Tom Cole all are heavy favorites in their GOP primaries Tuesday. Inhofe faces three lesser-known candidates in the GOP primary, while four Democrats are running for the opportunity to challenge him in the fall. Attorney and former television reporter Abby Broyles has outraised the three other Democrats in the race. Republican U.S. Reps. Kevin Hern and Frank Lucas do not have primary opponents.
Also on the ballot Tuesday is a proposal to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to extend Medicaid health coverage to tens of thousands of low-income residents. Oklahoma is one of 14 states that have not expanded Medicaid — along with neighboring states Texas and Kansas—as part of the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act.
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