OKLAHOMA CITY — U.S. Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the powerful Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, was trying to fend off a primary challenge Tuesday from a businessman who has invested millions of his own dollars in the race.
Political newcomer Paul Bondar has lent more than $5 million of his own money to his campaign in Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District. Three other Republican Party candidates are also on the ballot.
Cole, a longtime political strategist for the Republican Party in Oklahoma before his election to Congress in 2002, has the support of former President Donald Trump. But Bondar’s money allowed him to cover the airwaves and social media with a flood of ads touting his candidacy.
“Five million dollars in Oklahoma would be like $15 million in Atlanta or $20 million in Los Angeles,” said Chad Alexander, former chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party and host of a political talk show on radio station KOKC. “The most common question I get asked is when this election ends, because there are so many Bondar and Cole ads on the air that people are fed up with them.”
Bondar also faced questions about his residency. Most recently, he lived in Texas and voted in that state’s Republican primary in March, which became a focal point of Cole’s attacks.
Bondar attacked Cole as a Washington insider willing to vote with Democrats on spending bills, including billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine.
Cole typically faces only token opposition, but records show he has spent more than $3.1 million so far in the primary. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, the two most voted will face each other in the second round of the primaries on August 27th.
Oklahoma’s 4th District spans south-central Oklahoma and includes Ada, Ardmore, Duncan, Lawton/Fort Sill, Moore, and Norman.
Two other Oklahoma congressmen faced challengers.
In the sprawling 3rd Congressional District in western Oklahoma, Republican U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, the longest-serving incumbent in the House delegation, easily fended off two lesser-known challengers. As no Democrat or independent ran for the seat, Lucas was re-elected.
In the Tulsa-based 1st District, Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern defeated Paul Royse. On the Democratic side, Evelyn Rogers, who sought this seat as an independent in the last two general elections, or former FBI agent Dennis Baker will face Hern in November. Baker reported nearly $91,000 raised to Rogers’ $1,300.
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