OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The two Democrats vying for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District Democratic nomination insist someone from their party can win in a Republican-leaning state, with President Barack Obama at the top of the ticket.
Incumbent Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., counters that he has represented the views of voters in his district, which extends from south Oklahoma City to the Texas state line, and westward just past Lawton. Tinker Air Force Base and Fort Sill Army post are part of the district.
“You run on your record and your votes. I’m happy to put them in front of the voters,” Cole, of Moore, told The Associated Press. “.. I think I’ve also been able to help individual constituents with their problems,” Cole said.
Donna Bebo, 34, a Fletcher resident who is in her first race for political office, faces three-time congressional candidate Bert Smith in the Democratic primary on Tuesday. Smith, 64, of Moore, ran unsuccessfully for the House in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
The winner most likely will face Cole, who is seeking a sixth term and faces little-known Greg Caissie of Norman in the GOP primary election.
Independent candidate R.J. Harris, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican against Sen. Tom Coburn in the 2010 GOP primary, will also appear on the November ballot.
Both Bebo, whose husband is retired from the U.S. Army, and Smith, who is a retired high school math teacher and U.S. Army reservist, aimed their criticisms at Cole and said that they believe a Democrat can win in Oklahoma, which Republicans have called one of the reddest of the red states.
But the reasons they gave for the possible victory differ.
Bebo said that she believes voters will relate to her.
“One of the primary criticisms I’ve heard, being from a military family, is that a lot of military service members won’t vote for a Democrat. I don’t think that’s the case,” she said. “I’ve been through many of the struggles Oklahomans are going through right now. I can relate.”
Smith said he believes that Harris, the independent candidate, could help a Democrat win the race by splitting the Republican vote.
“Whether he takes enough to make the thing work right now, I don’t know,” Smith said. “All you need is for the independent to take one-third (of the vote).” Smith predicts the Democratic candidate will win 35 percent to 37 percent of the vote.
“There is a way this will work,” Smith said
Both Democrats vowed to support the winner of the party’s primary.
Obama didn’t win any of Oklahoma’s 77 counties in the 2008 general election, and he lost the Democratic primary to now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Caissie said he decided to oppose Cole in the GOP primary in an effort to reduce the nation’s debt.
“When he voted twice to increase the deficit ceiling,” Caissie said he decided to run.
Cole said those votes were difficult, but necessary to pay the nation’s debts.
“Not raising the debt ceiling was like not paying your credit card bill. I’m not going to watch the United States of America not pay its bills, and those bills are obligations to the military, to your senior citizens,” Cole said.
Bebo, a stay-at-home mother of four, said she decided to enter politics because of “stagnation” in Congress.
“That partisan game-playing and partisan politics has won out over truly representing the people of Oklahoma,” Bebo said.
Smith said he wants to ensure that the Medicare health care program continues and to find a way to provide jobs for military veterans.
