Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., announced Monday he will run for reelection in 2010, ending months of speculation.
The 61-year-old physician has earned a reputation as a maverick among Republicans in the Senate, most recently amending credit card reform legislation with a provision allowing guns in national parks. He has been a staunch opponent of earmark spending and has frequently stood in the way of legislation that he believes would waste taxpayer dollars.
Coburn made the announcement to run again at the Tulsa Press Club, telling the audience “My decision to run again came down to a sober realization that our country’s future is at stake,” the Tulsa World reports. “The real problem is that we don’t have leaders who will talk about the real problems. They are more concerned about the calculus of what is in their own best interest and not what is in the long-term best interest of the country.”
