In 2018, Kendra Horn stood out as one of the unlikeliest ripples of the blue wave when she unseated the heavily favored Steve Russell in Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, becoming the first Democrat to win the Oklahoma City-based district since 1974. Horn wasn’t so lucky in 2020 when she lost reelection to Republican Stephanie Bice, but when incumbent Senator Jim Inhofe announced his retirement she threw her hat in the ring to finish out his term, which will expire in 2026.  

Horn will face Republican Congressman Markwayne Mullin, her former House colleague and, this being Oklahoma and all, the heavy favorite to win the general election. Mullin is probably best known for his attempt to rescue five Americans stuck in Afghanistan after the U.S. military withdrawal last summer (his plan was thwarted after the U.S. embassy in Tajikistan refused to help him transport a “huge” amount of cash into Afghanistan). As this episode implies, Mullin isn’t exactly uncontroversial – he was one of many Republican representatives to sign an amicus brief supporting the Texas v. Pennsylvania election lawsuit and also voted against certifying Biden’s 2020 victory. In 2017, he told a constituent town hall meeting that the notion that taxpayers paid his salary was “bullcrap” even though he does, in fact, collect a tax-funded congressional salary, and he’s come out in favor of a national abortion ban without exceptions, claiming that his wife would be ok putting her own life at risk if it meant giving birth to a child. In any other state, this hardline position could put Mullin’s campaign at risk, but, as we said, this is Oklahoma and there isn’t much that will prevent Mullin from winning and becoming only the fifth Native American to be sworn in as a United States Senator.

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