With Bice win, GOP gets shot at Horn
Rep. Kendra Horn had been in office less than four months last year when Republicans started announcing their plans to run against her in 2020.
The first of those, state Sen. Stephanie Bice, got the nod from GOP voters in the 5th Congressional District on Tuesday to challenge the freshman Democrat, setting up the general election contest Republicans have been craving since Horn pulled off one of the
biggest upsets of 2018.
Bice, 46, of Oklahoma City, c a pt ur e d 5 3 % of t he vote Tuesday in defeating Terry Neese, 72, of Oklahoma City. Bice won handily in Oklahoma County, the largest part of the 5th District, overcoming her losses to Neese in Pottawatomie and Seminole counties.
The race has already attracted millions of dollars i n outside money, going back to last year before the House voted to impeach President Donald Trump. And millions more will be spent before the Nov. 3 election determines whether the seat remains occupied by a Democrat or reverts to Republican control.
Bice wasted no time Tuesday n i g h t a t t a c k i n g Hor n , o f Oklahoma City, calling her “a rubber-stamp for (House
S p e a k e r ) Nancy Pe l o s i i n Washington.”
“Whenever it counts, Kendra Horn votes in lock-step with Pelosi and far-left liberals who have embraced Socialism, have demonized our police officers, who refuse to get serious about illegal immigration and who demonize Oklahoma's oil and gas industry.”
Ward Curtin, spokesman f or Horn's campaign, said Wednesday that the campaign would look forward to contrasting the differences between Horn and Bice.
“While Congresswoman Horn has been f ocused on working across the aisle to lower the cost of prescription drugs, ensuring our military f a mili e s have t he housing they deserve, and getting our economy back on track during a pandemic, State Senator Bice will say whatever she thinks will help her win, putting her political ambitions ahead of her constituents,” Curtin said.
Horn's victory in 2018 over incumbent Republican Steve Russell was chalked up by many Republicans to not taking Horn seriously in an historically red district won by Trump in 2016.
Republicans are ready this time and are likely to frame the race as a referendum on Pelosi, the California Democrat serving her second stint as House s peaker, a nd ot her House Democrats.
T h e C o n g r e s s i o n a l Leadership Fund, a gr oup aligned with House Republicans that has reserved $3.6 million in advertising for the Oklahoma race, said Tuesday, “From voting with Pelosi 90% of the time to repeatedly voting against Oklahoma oil and gas jobs, it is clear Kendra Horn has put Washington liberals' priorities ahead of what's best for Oklahomans.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic C o n g r e s s i o n a l C a mpa i g n
Committee outlined in a memo released Tuesday night a strategy to go after Bice on health care matters — Bice opposed the Medicaid expansion question approved statewide i n June and supports the repeal of the Affordable Care Act — and, apparently, on some of the issues used against her by the Washington, D.C.-based Club for Growth, including tax breaks for movie and television productions.
“O v e r t h e p a s t y e a r , Stephanie Bice has shown the people of the 5th Congressional District that her priorities are all wrong,” said Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Illinois, chair of the DCCC.
“In the middle of a global pandemic, Bice voted to take money away from police and teachers and supports efforts to strip Oklahomans of their health insurance.”
Club f or Growth Action, the political arm of the group, which advocates for limited government, spent more than $ 900,000 trying to defeat Bice, according t o r eports filed with the Federal Election Commission. A spokesman for the group did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
I n n o m i n a t i n g B i c e , Republican voters chose the seemingly more moderate of the candidates in Tuesday's runoff. Though Bice and opponent Terry Neese back Trump without reservation — praising his handling of the pandemic and vowing to continue work to build a border wall — Bice proved willing to buck GOP orthodoxy and raise taxes to support education.
Her Senate district also gives her a political base, something Neese didn't have; and, as Bice pointed out, Neese had never beaten a Democrat in her previous attempts at elective office. But Bice has. And Horn has beaten a Republican.