Roll Call
Randy Brogdon, a conservative former state senator currently challenging Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, is considering running in the Senate special election instead.
“He has got a lot of people inside of Oklahoma, probably eight or nine out of 10, that are urging him to run for Senate, and he is listening very intently to those urges,” Brogdon senior adviser Louis Waller said when reached by CQ Roll Call.
Brogdon’s potential entrance comes just after Rep. Jim Bridenstine, a favorite among conservative outside groups, decided against a bid. Groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund and the Madison Project had pushed for Bridenstine to run as a conservative alternative to Rep. James Lankford, who announced his bid for the seat earlier this month.
Brogdon, who lost to Fallin in the 2010 gubernatorial primary, has the kind of tea party profile that could garner support from those groups. If he runs, Brogdon would be the third major Republican in the race, along with state Speaker T.W. Shannon. Candidates have until April 11 to file for the race, which follows the state’s regular election year schedule.
The Madison Project, which recruits conservative candidates, declined to comment on whether they have met with Brogdon.
The Oklahoma Senate seat came open when Sen. Tom Coburn announced his plans to resign from the Senate at the end of 2014, rather than finish his full term. The special-election winner will serve out the remaining two years of Coburn’s term.
The eventual GOP nominee will be heavily favored to win the special in November in this solidly Republican state. The race is rated Safe Republican by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.
A primary for the seat is scheduled for June 24, with a runoff scheduled for Aug. 26 if necessary.
This would favor Congressman Lankford due to the fact that TW and Brogdon would split the Tea Party vote. Wish TW would have waited until Senator Inhofe retired. The timing would have given him so much more time to show Oklahomans that he had what it takes to Govern.
I’m a farmer and rancher and I want to see Senator James Inhofe and Senator James Lankford leading our great state with some good old fashioned common sense, and the ability to work together and with the strength to compromise when it’s necessary. Any one can just go to DC and vote no on everything. That doesn’t take much courage and is no way to govern. I will be happy to see 2 Men by the name of James serving as our US Senator.
I’m NOT for Brogden running for senate when we need all of our constitutional liberty minded people in state office BEFORE any federal office. State first, federal last. The states formed the federal government NOT the other way around. Lankford is my representative now and he is WEAK! He is NOT a constitutionalist just like Coburn isn’t although he claims to be. Compromise? There is no such thing as compromise on the Constitution except for destroying the Imminent Domain doctrine.
The Randy Brogdon dilemma: does he lose the gubernatorial race or the senatorial race?
The Tea Party really did breathe new life into the decaying corpse of the John Birch Society. You are not going to convince the kind of sane, common sense values voters that comprise Lankford’s base that he’s not actually a conservative. You know why? Because it doesn’t make any sense. James is a godly man and does not yield to despair or anger, and as such he will never sufficiently mirror or help you justify your sense of disaffection, fear or misanthropy. The movement is increasingly regarding any civilized man with suspicion. Fringe activists and voters have accurately deduced that he’s “not one of us” but it’s not because he isn’t a conservative. The problem isn’t his.
We do need Brogdan to stay at home and help us fight the out of control national government. Ever since the ratification of the 17th amendment in 1913, the senate has served no purpose and is becoming only a tool for the Executive branch.
Has Brogdon resigned his government job yet?
Yes. Some time ago.