Candidates in 3rd Congressional District vie for new OKC constituents
As he mounts a primary challenge to incumbent Rep. Frank Lucas, Enid Republican Wade Burleson has a campaign worker focusing on the urban Oklahoma City neighborhoods added to the sprawling rural district that spans much of western Oklahoma.
Lucas, who has won his last several elections by huge margins and has done relatively little campaigning, has hired a consultant who ran the last MAPS campaign in Oklahoma City.
Both candidates are aiming to win the favor of a new group of voters in Oklahoma County.
Due to redistricting in the state Legislature, whoever wins the congressional seat will be responsible for Oklahomans in areas like Altus, Enid, the Panhandle and, now, the more Democratic parts of Oklahoma City.
Burleson, a retired pastor at Emmanuel Enid and former head of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, has the help of a Spanish-speaking field representative, Francis “Poncho” Hobbes, campaigning in south Oklahoma City.
“They are far more conservative than people realize,” Burleson, 60, said. “If I’m elected to Congress, I promise you south Oklahoma City will be represented to the nth degree.”
Party affiliation aside, Lucas, a rancher from Cheyenne, said he is confident he can win the approval of the new constituents.
“We’ve got a lot in common. It’s bluecollar, hard-working folks,” Lucas, 62, said. “So whether you live in south Oklahoma City, Boise City, Oklahoma, or Pawhuska, Oklahoma, we have the same sets of needs and wants.”
The results of the 2020 census showed Oklahoma’s congressional districts would need to make changes to each have 791,871 people. Nearly 181,000 residents in Oklahoma County have been moved to 3rd District from the 5th District, including parts of Oklahoma City’s Plaza District, the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, Will Rogers World Airport and the OKC Fairgrounds.
These areas are almost entirely represented by Democratic leaders in the state House and Senate.
Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice won the 5th District back from Democrat Kendra Horn in 2020. With the Republican-backed state Legislature moving parts of Oklahoma City to the 3rd District, Bice’s reelection chances are even stronger.
“They are going to move what they believe to be Democrats into the most red district in the United States,” Burleson said.
Lucas also has attracted a second Republican primary challenger. Stephen Butler, a 60-year-old owner of a residential window cleaning business, Clearview Window Cleaning, in Yukon, is running as the “unconventional candidate.”
Butler said his lack of political experience is an asset, emphasizing his belief in term limits for politicians. Lucas, who was elected to office in 1994, is the longest-serving House member in the Oklahoma delegation.
“I put my name on the ballot because I have gone to the polls too many times and there is nobody else to choose,” Butler said of Lucas. “I’m a regular guy. I actually went to high school in south Oklahoma City. The Democrat/Republican thing –– I don’t even think that’s going to apply.”
Lucas has not had more than one primary challenger since 2014.
“I’d like to think that means that the voters have appreciated what I’ve done for them in the past,” Lucas said. “Maybe my competitors this time … just don’t know me well enough.”
Burleson said he decided to run for Congress because Lucas doesn’t vote as conservatively as he represents himself to his constituents.
However, Lucas secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump last week. Trump won all 77 counties in the state, including Oklahoma County, in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
This would not be the first time Lucas could represent parts of Oklahoma County. When he was first elected, Lucas’ district, then the 6th Congressional District, had been gerrymandered to protect a Democratic incumbent by including many of the neighborhoods in the core area of Oklahoma City.
When the state lost a congressional seat after the 2000 census, most of Oklahoma County was put into a single, more compact district. Lucas has represented the 3rd District since 2003.
Lucas led his primary opponents in fundraising. He raised $611,340 during the quarter, which ran from the first of the year to March 31.
He spent over $122,000 and ended the quarter with nearly $805,000 cash on hand.
Burleson raised $165,410, and he ended the quarter with nearly $119,000. Butler announced his candidacy after the end of the quarter.
Republican state Rep. Sean Roberts, who had previously filed with the Federal Elections Commission to run for the 3rd District, announced last week he was suspending his congressional bid.
The three Republican candidates will face off in the June 28 primary election. The winner of the primary will face sole Democratic candidate Jeremiah A. Ross in the Nov. 8 general election.