Terms in the U.S. Senate are generally staggered and it’s  rare when a state has two contested elections in the same year. But that is the case in Oklahoma this year.

U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, is up for re-election after finishing a six-year term. He has drawn a credible Republican challenger while six Democrats are vying to face the GOP winning in the November election. And there are a Libertarian candidate plus an Independent who filed to take Lankford’s seat.

And long-time politician Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, has chosen to retire, which opens up the second seat for Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate.

Thirteen Republicans have filed to get the GOP nod for that seat but only one Democrat, former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, will be on the November ballot. One Independent and one Libertarian will be on the general election ballot to face the GOP winner.

Here is some capsule summaries of this group of candidates for the U.S. Senate.

Open Seat

(now held by Inhofe)

Republicans

U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin

Mullin is giving up his House seat in Oklahoma’s Second District for a run at the Senate. First elected in 2012, he is in his fifth term.

Mullin lives on a ranch in Westville, Oklahoma, that his family got in the original allotment as members of the Cherokee Tribe. The family are members of the Assembly of God Church.

Mullin founded several companies, including Mullin Plumbing and he currently appears in commercials for that regional business. He has a degree in Applied Science in Construction Technology from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology and he got an honorary doctorate degree from Bacone College in 2018.

His campaign website and his campaign TV spots have photos of former President Donald Trump, suggesting Trump’s endorsement for the Senate.

Mullin is pro-life, he favors Trump’s wall on the southern border and more local control for public education. He wants to repeal Obamacare and to cut federal spending. He supports the gun rights in the Second Amendment.

State Sen. Nathan Dahm

Dahm was first elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 2012 for the 33rd District (Tulsa, Broken Arrow and Bixby). Dahm was born in Broken Arrow and his missionary family raised him in Romania, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Empire.

Dahm has consistently been rated the most conservative senator in Oklahoma. Dahm has been a champion for pro-Second Amendment legislation. He debated former talk show host Piers Morgan concerning infringement on gun rights.

Dahm has consistently authored and supported legislation to outlaw abortion in Oklahoma. Dahm was the primary author of SB612 which makes it a felony to perform an abortion in Oklahoma. That is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and up to 10 years in prison. It was signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Dahm has opposed sanctuary cities that harbor illegal immigrants. He has filed bills to end “Big Tech” censorship and to make Ivermectin Hydroxychloroquine – drugs to treat the Chinese coronarvirus – available for sale over the counter.

Dahm has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, one of the most conservative senators in the nation.

T.W. Shannon

Shannon is a banker (CEO of Chickasaw Community Bank in Oklahoma City). He was in the Oklahoma House from 2007 to 2015. He was the first African American to become Speaker of the House in Oklahoma in 2013.

In 2014, he resigned as Speaker to run for the U.S. Senate in an open seat to succeed Sen. Tom Coburn. Shannon lost to Sen. James Lankford in the GOP primary.

Shannon, whose father was a Chickasaw and his mother was an African American, has an undergraduate degree from Cameron University and a law degree from Oklahoma City School of Law. Shannon is an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. He attends Bethlehem Baptist Church in Lawton.

Shannon told Fox News that “Constitution, capitalism and Christianity” are the focus of his campaign. He is the former co-chair of “Black Voices for Trump.” He said he spoke with Trump before announcing his campaign and Trump encouraged him.

Scott Pruitt

Pruitt went to the University of Kentucky on a baseball scholarship. Pruitt transferred to Georgetown College and get a bachelor’s degree in political science and communications. He got his law degree from The University of Tulsa.

Former President Trump appointed Pruitt as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt served in the Oklahoma Senate from 1999 to 2007. In 2010, Pruitt was elected Oklahoma Attorney General.

As EPA administrator, Pruitt was constantly under assault by the mainstream media for purely political reasons. He was opposed to the concept of climate change attributable to human activity and that inflamed his critics – including Republicans who despised President Trump. Even in his own office, Pruitt was mistakenly blamed for over-spending that was done by subordinates without his knowledge. Pruitt resigned under pressure on July 9, 2018.

Since then, he has been an energy consultant.

Pruitt believes that his wide range of experience will help him win the GOP primary. He spoke with Trump but Trump has not formally endorsed Pruitt.

Pruitt has been a member of First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow.

Luke Holland

Hollard resigned from Inhofe’s senatorial staff to run for his seat. He has been endorsed by Inhofe in TV ads.

Holland grew up in Bartlesville. He has a degree in finance from the Walton School of Business at The University of Arkansas.

Holland grew up attending Grace Community Church in Bartlesville and now is a member of New Beginnings Church in Bixby,

Holland said he will stand up against China and socialism. He supports former President Trump and he will back law enforcement, tax cuts, economic growth and will oppose bad trade deals. He thinks Joe Biden’s policies cause inflation and that the situation at the southern border is a crisis.

Alex Gray

Gray attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater and George Washington University before entering the national security and foreign policy field, working for a U.S. Congressman before joining President Trump’s campaign in Trump Tower in the summer of 2016.

Gray spent four years in the Trump Administration as Deputy Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.

Since leaving government, Gray and his wife Rochelle returned to Oklahoma City, where he runs a small business helping American companies around the world. He is the recipient of the second-highest civilian award from the Department of Defense and the highest award from the National Security Council for his service to the country under President Trump.

He has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah; Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona; former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker; and others.

Adam Holley

According to his website, Holley wants to create more economic opportunities for Oklahoma. He will promote more government transparency and development of America’s energy sector, including oil and natural gas.

Jessica Jean Garrison

Garrison lives in Owasso. She went to Shawnee High school and studied nutrition at Oklahoma State University. She is originally from Bethel Acres, Oklahoma.

Garrison is an author and dietician and the daughter of the late state Sen. Earl Garrison, D-Muskogee. She is a Cherokee Nation citizen and a divorced single mother with three children.

Laura Moreno?

Moreno lives in Edmond.

Michael Coibion?

Coibion lives in Bartlesville.

Paul Royse

Royse lives in Tulsa.

Royse is upset that pastors have been hassled or arrested by law enforcement for protesting at abortion clinics. A Tulsa pastor was arrest for singing Jesus Loves Me at an abortion clinic.

Royse wants the Senate to address America’s $30 trillion debt before America falls into a major financial crisis. He wants Republicans to keep their promises and finish the wall on America’s southern border.

John F. Tompkins?

Tompkins is an Oklahoma City physician.

Randy J. Grellner?

Grellner is a Cushing physician.

Democrat

Kendra Horn

Horn spent one term in the U.S. House representing the Fifth District but she lost her re-election bid to Republican Stephanie Bice. Horn upset former Rep. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma, in 2018.

Independent

Ray Woods

Woods lost to Inhofe in a Senate race in 2014 in the general election. Woods got 9,93 votes.

Libertarian

Robert Murphy

Murphy is a retired data tech from OU. He has a degree from San Diego College of Engineering.

He is a veteran from the U.S. Marines who worked as a carpenter from 1978-1983.

United States Senator (Lankford’s seat)

Republican

Incumbent James Lankford

In 2016, Lankford got 980,892 votes (67%) while Democrat Mike Workman got 355,911 votes (24%). Lankford represented Oklahoma’s Fifth District in the House from 2011-2015. Lankford has undergraduate degree in secondary education from The University of Texas and a master’s degree in divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He worked for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma from 1996 to 2004 and he was program director of Falls Creek, the largest Christian camp in the United States.

Lankford took a pledge promising to not support new taxes. He has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association. Lankford opposed the legalization of medical marijuana in Oklahoma. He wants an extension of the Patriot Act and its roving wiretaps. He thinks climate change is a myth and he opposes Obamacare.

He opposes abortion and government funding of Planned Parenthood. He is against homosexual marriage.

Lankford opposed President Trump’s call to not certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory and voted to certify it..

Jackson Lahmeyer

Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer has a bachelor and master’s degree from Oral Roberts University in theological and historical studies. He was crusade director for Christ for All Nations. He also served as state coordinator for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

He is the lead pastor for Christian Center – now known as Sheridan.Church. He also teaches at Victory College. He and his family live in Owasso.

Lahmeyer wants to restore election integrity to president election and he criticizes Lankford for flip-flopping on the certification vote. He wants end illegal immigration and he supports Trump’s America First agenda.

Lahmeyer thinks legalized abortion is “greatest evil in our country.” He wants to cut spending to lower the national debt and he won’t raise taxes.

He has been endorsed by former Trump National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn and former Trump advisor Roger Stone.

Joan Farr

Farr has a bachelor degree and master’s degree in administration of justice from Wichita State University. She ran for governor of Kansas in 2010 and for the U.S. Senate seat in 2014 in Oklahoma. In 2020, she ran for the Senate as an Independent and lost.

She re-registered as a Republican in support of President Trump.

Her work experience includes two years at the Wichita Police Department and 17 years with the Boeing Company. Later, she worked with her husband in a small business they owned and operated.

In 2006, her husband died and she relocated her business to Tulsa. She now works as a pre-litigation counselor.

Democrat

Jason Bollinger

Bollinger has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a law degree from The University of Oklahoma.

Bollinger wants to offer healthcare to everyone. He wants to rebuild Oklahoma’s infrastructure and he supports public schools. He said he wants a secure southern border and he wants more oversight on national elections.

Madison Horn

Horn has worked in cybersecurity for almost 10 years.

She wants to restore “trust in government” and promote economic development. She supports public education and wants expansion of rural broadband access.

She calls immigration a “broken system” and she wants to “advance the security of human rights” and eliminate marginalization of groups.

Arya Azma?

Brandon Wade?

Dennis Baker?

Jo Glenn

Glenn is a public school teacher and former chairman of the Tulsa Democrat Party. She is a former public prosecutor in Tulsa.

She wants “equal access to voting.” She agrees with the McGirt decision and wants government officials to cooperate with the tribes. She supports legalized abortion.

Independent

Michael L. Delaney?

Libertarian

Kenneth D. Blevins?

United States Senator

Republican

(Open seat)

• U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin
• State Sen. Nathan Dahm
• T.W. Shannon
• Alex Gray
• Luke Holland
• Adam Holley
• Jessica Jean Garrison
• Laura Moreno
• Michael Coibion
• Scott Pruitt
• Paul Royse
• John F. Tompkins
• Randy J. Grellner

Democrat

• Kendra Horn

Independent

• Ray Woods

Libertarian

• Robert Murphy

United States Senator

Republican

• Incumbent James Lankford
• Jackson Lahmeyer
• Joan Farr

Democrat

• Jason Bollinger
• Madison Horn
• Arya Azma
• Brandon Wade
• Dennis Baker
• Jo Glenn

Independent

• Michael L. Delaney

Libertarian

• Kenneth D. Blevins