The Republican primary for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District is one of the most closely watched races in Tuesday’s Oklahoma primary.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the powerful Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, was trying to fend off a challenge in Tuesday’s primary from a businessman who has poured millions of dollars of his own money into the race.
Political newcomer Paul Bondar has poured more than $5 million of his own money into his campaign in Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District, which also has three other Republican candidates running.
Mr. Cole, a longtime Republican political strategist in Oklahoma before being elected to the House in 2002, has the backing of former President Donald Trump. But Mr. Bondar’s money has allowed him to run a ton of TV and social media ads promoting his candidacy.
“$5 million in Oklahoma is the equivalent of $15 million in Atlanta and $20 million in Los Angeles,” said Chad Alexander, former Oklahoma Republican Party chairman and political talk show host on radio station KOKC. “The question I get asked most often is when is this election going to be over, because there are so many Bondar and Cole ads on the airwaves and people are sick of them.”
Questions have also been raised about Bondar’s residency – he lived in Texas until recently and voted in the state’s Republican primary in March – which has been a focus of Cole’s attacks.
Bondar attacked Cole as a Washington insider who aligned himself with Democrats on a spending bill that included billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine.
Cole typically faces only a nominal opponent, but records show he has spent more than $3.1 million on the primary so far. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in a primary runoff on Aug. 27.
Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District spans south-central Oklahoma and includes Ada, Ardmore, Duncan, Lawton/Fort Sill, Moore and Norman.
Oklahoma has two other House members facing off.
In the Tulsa-based 1st Congressional District, Republican Rep. Kevin Hahn is running against Paul Royce, who has not filed a campaign finance disclosure with the Federal Election Commission. On the Democratic side, either Evelyn Rogers, who ran for the seat as an independent in the past two general elections, or former FBI agent Dennis Baker will face off against the Republican winner in November. Baker has reported raising nearly $91,000 to Rogers’ $1,300.
Rep. Frank Lucas, the longest-serving Republican in the House of Representatives, has two challengers, but neither has reported raising more than $20,000 in this election.
