Democrat steps up to challenge Steve Russell
After leading organizations that urge women to run for public office, Kendra Horn will do so herself.
Horn, 41, announced Thursday that she will challenge U.S. Rep. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, for his U.S. House seat in the state’s 5th Congressional District.
“I’m running for Congress because through my work in the public and private sector, I have learned you need innovative thinking to inspire change,” Horn said in a news release. “I believe we need someone representing us in Washington who puts our communities first and will be a problemsolver, not an extreme partisan politician.”
Horn is executive director of Women Lead Oklahoma and Sally’s List, two groups that urge women to run for elected office and promote civic engagement. She lives in Oklahoma City and is a native of Chickasha, according to the news release.
“I’m running because I believe in the power of ordinary people to make a difference and because I know there’s more that unites us than divides us,” she wrote to supporters in a fundraising email. “Like you, I am tired of the partisanship and political games hurting working families.”
Among her priorities in Congress would be access to health care, equal pay for equal work, making life more affordable for the middle class and public education, she said.
Horn vowed to “take off the political labels” and her news release contains no mention of the party to which she belongs. A campaign staff member said she is a Democrat and she was formerly a press secretary for Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Carson.
Horn will formally launch her campaign during a kickoff event July 13 at Dunlap Codding, 609 W Sheridan Ave., beginning at 6 p.m.