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Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Oklahoma Congressional Seats
November 1, 2012
By Ballotpedia's Congressional team
| Oklahoma's Congressional Elections in 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senate Election? | U.S. House seats | Possible competitive races? | |
| No | 5 | 1 (2nd) | |
OKLAHOMA CITY: Oklahoma: Oklahoma has five U.S. House seats on the ballot in 2012. Only four of the five incumbents ran for re-election. Incumbent Dan Boren (D), who represented the 2nd Congressional District, declined to seek a 5th term in this year's election. Of the other four, the only incumbent who did not face a primary challenge was James Lankford (R) of the 5th District. With 70% of major party primaries contested, Oklahoma was well above the national average is 54.31%, ranking 12th in the nation for primary competitiveness in 2012.
After a fierce primary campaign, 1st District incumbent John Sullivan (R) was defeated by Jim Bridenstine in the June 26th primary election. Sullivan was one of 13 incumbents defeated in U.S. House primaries.[1] Bridenstine will square off in the general election with John Olson (D), who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The most hotly contested congressional race in Oklahoma this year is for the open 2nd District seat. Six Republicans and three Democrats competed in the June 26th primary for the chance to fill incumbent Boren's seat, which he will vacate in January. Runoff elections were held for both tickets, as no candidate received enough of the vote to be declared the winner in June. On August 28th, Democrat Rob Wallace and Republican Markwayne Mullin prevailed as their their respective party's nominee.[2][3]
Although retiring incumbent Boren is a Democrat, projections indicate the district will switch this year from blue to red. Before the primary, The Cook Political Report[4] and the Sabato Crystall Ball rated the race as "leaning Republican"[5], but the former publication changed its rating to "Likely Republican" later in the election season (Sabato held steady at Leaning Republican).[6][7]
The Center for Voting and Democracy (Fairvote) projects that Democrats will win zero districts while Republicans will win all five seats.[8]
In Oklahoma, all polls are open from 7 AM to 7 PM Central Time.[9]
See also: State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)
Here is a complete list of U.S. House candidates appearing on the general election ballot in Oklahoma:
Candidates running by District
| District | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| 1st |  John Olson Jim Bridenstine Craig Allen |
John Sullivan (Oklahoma) | Pending | Pending |
| 2nd | Rob Wallace Markwayne Mullin Michael Fulks |
Dan Boren | Pending | Pending |
| 3rd | Timothy Ray Murray Frank D. Lucas William M. Sanders |
Frank D. Lucas | Pending | Pending |
| 4th | Donna Marie Bebo Tom Cole RJ Harris |
Tom Cole | Pending | Pending |
| 5th | Tom Guild James Lankford Robert T. Murphy Pat Martin |
James Lankford | Pending | Pending |
Partisan breakdown by district
| Members of the U.S. House from Oklahoma -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 1 | 0 | |
| Republican Party | 4 | 5 | |
| Total | 5 | 5 | |
Comparison of new and old redistricting maps
| Congressional Redistricting Map, approved June 2011
For more information, view Redistricting in Oklahoma. |
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Articles
- 2012 elections review: One incumbent defeated in Oklahoma June 27
- 2012 elections preview: Oklahoma voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries June 25
See also
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Oklahoma State Legislature
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Central Regional State Executive Officials
- United States Congressional election results, 2012
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- United States House of Representatives elections in Oregon, 2012
- Oklahoma elections, 2012
- National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections
Footnotes
- ↑ realclearpolitics.com, "Museum: Sullivan's claims 'recklessly false'" accessed June 21, 2012
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedresults - ↑ Oklahoma Secretary of State Elections Board, "Release: Runoff primary election" accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 Competitive House Race Chart" accessed June 21, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Sabato Crystal Ball accessed June 21, 2012
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "House: Race Ratings," October 30, 2012
- ↑ Sabato Crystal Ball, "2012 House Ratings," last updated October 25, 2012
- ↑ , "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Oklahoma," September 2012
- ↑ Oklahoma Elections, "FAQs"
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