Tuesday's Oklahoma Primary

The only primary taking place while I'm on vacation next week is in Oklahoma, and there are a number of interesting races to deal with. Incidentally, I'll report the results when I'm back, although you can find all the information you could possibly want on the Green Papers.

Governor
Governor Brad Henry (D) faces Andrew Marr, Jr. in the Dem primary. Henry has a 67% approval rating as of mid-June, according to Survey USA. That's in a heavily Republican state. Oklahoma Dems would be completely insane to part ways with him now.

On the Republican side, there's a four way race. Congressman Ernest Istook is the leading candidate, and is joined by Jim Evanoff, Bob Sullivan Jr., and Jim Williamson. Expect Istook to win the primary, and then expect an interesting race between the popular Democratic incumbent and the more logical Republican.

Oklahoma CD 1
Congressman John Sullivan (R) has two primary opponents, Fran Moghaddam and Evelyn Rogers. However, Sullivan has raised well over half a million bucks, while the other two combined have raised about $8,000. Sullivan will cruise to victory, and will be facing Alan Gentges (D) in November.

Oklahoma CD 2
Congressman Dan Boren (D) is not opposed this year, but there is a battle on the Republican side to determine who will face him. Patrick Miller and Raymond Wickson are fighting to be his opponent in November.

Oklahoma CD 3
Congressman Frank Lucas (R) is unopposed, but there is a three way race to determine who his Democratic opponent will be. Sue Barton, John Harris III, and Gregory Wilson are all competing for the seat, and none seems to have raised much more than $10,000. Impossible to tell who will win the race.

Oklahoma CD 5
The race to determine who will succeed Congressman Ernest Istook (R) in this seat is all over the place, and looks a little like the California Gubernatorial runoff from a couple of years ago. Istook, in case you have a short memory, is running for Governor. On the Republican side, there are 6 (!) challengers, several of whom have raised some serious cash. Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode has raised well over a million bucks and has to be considered the front-runner. Lieutenant Governor Mary Fallin has also raised plenty of dough, at over $800,000. Also in the race are Kevin Calvey, Fred Morgan, Mick Cornett, and Johnny B. Roy.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Paul Hunter, Jim Priest, and Bert Smith are competing. Hunter will probably win, as he's raised the most money by quite a bit. Unfortunately for Dems, he only has $200,000 raised. This is going to be a smack-down in November.

There ya have it...more info on this primary on July 30.