The November general election may seem far away, but the battle has already started in Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional district — the only one Democrats are given a chance of winning. The district comprises much of the Oklahoma City metro area, although not southern communities like Moore and Norman. It’s a district that is more urban and ethnically/racially diverse.
The two candidates in the race — incumbent Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice, 50, and Democrat challenger Madison Horn, 34 ― have no opponents in the state’s June primary, so they’ve started their general election race immediately.
Bice took a break from intense congressional activity in Washington, D.C., last week to meet with supporters in Edmond, while Horn was campaigning door to door in OKC’s Paseo District.
By all measures, Oklahoma is a state dominated by the Republican party. Former President Donald Trump carried every one of the state’s 77 counties in 2020. Both U.S. Senate seats, all five Congressional seats, the governor’s office, the attorney general’s office and all other statewide positions are held by Republicans. Additionally, the party has an overwhelming majority in the state Legislature.
But Democrats hold out hope that the 5th district could flip back to their party in 2024, as it did in 2018, when Kendra Horn (no relation to Madison) astounded the political establishment with an upset victory over a two-term Republican incumbent, Steve Russell.
Kendra Horn’s victory put the district back in the Democratic column for the first time in 44 years, but the cheering didn’t last long. Two years later, Stephanie Bice brought the seat back to the GOP.
Kenneth Kickham, professor of political science at the University of Central Oklahoma, suggests that Kendra Horn’s triumph may have been less about her position on issues and more about lack of Republican enthusiasm for their incumbent candidate, Steve Russell, and low party turnout.
Madison Horn, a cybersecurity executive from Oklahoma City, challenged Sen. James Lankford in the 2022 election and was clobbered, losing by a 64-32 percent margin, but that was a statewide race. Trump carried the state by an equally lopsided margin in 2020, but in the 5th district Trump’s share of the vote was a thinner 51 percent.
In an interview Horn acknowledged her underdog position. Registered Republicans in the 5th district outnumber Democrats 243,000 to 149,000. However, the number of registered independents has been growing, now nearly 100,000 statewide and they could swing the election either way.
“We are a very independent state,” Horn said. “What Oklahoman has ever said to you, ‘I would like the government to make decisions for me?'”
In particular, Horn is hopeful her positions on general lack of access to health care and on women’s health care and reproductive rights will win support for her in a district she believes is more moderate than the state as a whole.
On reproductive rights, she said, “The extremes are dictating the narrative here in Oklahoma.”
The key to her campaign, she said, is becoming better known, which means knocking on doors. “My commitment is to outwork my opponent every single day,” she said.
Bice, then a state senator considered a moderate, defeated Kendra Horn in 2020 to win back the seat for her party, but not by a wide margin — a little over 4 percent.
Figures from the Federal Election Commission show that through March 31, Bice has raised nearly $1.2 million for her campaign, much more than the $204,000 reported by Horn.
Neither candidate said she expected significant financial support from their respective national parties.
“My hope is that I do a good enough job managing this campaign myself that I don’t need the national Republican Congressional Committee to come in,” Bice said in an interview.
Bice said working on a bipartisan initiative to pass a nationwide paid family leave law has been a priority for her in Congress. She said she thinks border security and support for the oil and…
This article was originally published by a www.oklahoman.com . Read the Original article here. .