In lieu of running for a third term in the House, Lankford announced he would run in the 2014 U.S. Senate special election following Senator Tom Coburn's planned resignation. He won the June 2014 primary with 57% of the vote, becoming the Republican nominee. Lankford won the special election with nearly 68% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Connie Johnson. He was reelected in 2016 with nearly 68% of the vote and in 2022 with 64% of the vote. Lankford became the state's senior senator in 2023 upon the retirement of Senator Jim Inhofe.
Early life and education
Lankford was born March 4, 1968, in Dallas, Texas,[1] the son of Linda Joyce (née House) and James Wesley Lankford.[2][3] His mother was an elementary school librarian.[4] His maternal grandparents owned a small dry-cleaning business, his father and paternal grandparents a dairy farm.[5] His stepfather was a career employee of AC Delco, the parts division of General Motors.[5]
Lankford's parents divorced when he was four; he lived with his mother and older brother for a time in his grandparents' garage apartment. He became a Christian at eight. His mother remarried when he was twelve, and the family moved to Garland, Texas, with his stepfather.[4]
After two-term incumbent Republican Mary Fallin announced she was giving up her seat to run for governor of Oklahoma, Lankford entered the race to succeed her.[1] He finished first in a seven-way Republican primary—the important contest in this heavily Republican district—and defeated former State RepresentativeKevin Calvey in the runoff.[10] He then defeated Democrat Billy Coyle in the general election with 62.53% of the vote.[4][11][1]
In January 2014, Lankford announced he would run in the 2014 Senate special election to succeed retiring Republican Senator Tom Coburn.[17] Lankford won the June 2014 Republican primary, defeating former state House speaker T.W. Shannon and former state senator Randy Brogdon.[18] In November, Lankford won the election for the final two years of Coburn's second term, defeating retiring state senator Constance N. Johnson, 67.9%-29.0%. Independent candidate Mark Beard won the remaining 3.2% of the vote.[19]
On December 21, 2017, Lankford was one of six senators to introduce the Secure Elections Act, which would authorize block grants to states to update outdated voting technology.[24]
Lankford became the senior U.S. senator from Oklahoma in 2023 upon the retirement of Senator Jim Inhofe.[25][26]
Lankford was the lead Senate Republican negotiator on a bipartisan bill intended to resolve the Mexico–United States border crisis. House Republicans were skeptical of the bill before the text was released, and Senate Republicans also swiftly turned against the bill upon its release on February 4, 2024, after Donald Trump said he did not want President Joe Biden to score a political win with it. On February 7, Senate Republicans blocked the bill in a floor vote, with only four of the 14 Republican votes needed in favor. Lankford said on the floor before the vote that a "popular commentator" had told him a month earlier, "If you try to move a bill that solves the border crisis during this presidential year, I will do whatever I can to destroy you, because I do not want you to solve this during the presidential election." Two days before the vote, Trump told a radio host, "This is a very bad bill for his career", while also falsely asserting he had never endorsed Lankford.[27] The Oklahoma Republican Party censured Lankford days before the bill was released, asserting he was "playing fast and loose" with Democrats.[28] The National Border Patrol Council, a union representing 18,000 border patrol officers, quickly endorsed the bill upon its release; the union had endorsed Trump in 2020 and sharply criticized Biden's border policies.[29]
Lankford supports budget austerity through lowering taxes and reducing government spending.[30] He took the taxpayer protection pledge promising to support no new taxes.[30] He supports the repeal of the income and estate taxes and supports a sales tax to tax consumption and not savings or earnings.[30]
Guns
In 2014, Lankford was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund and had an "A" rating from the group.[31][32][33] Lankford supports loosening restrictions on interstate gun purchases.[30] He opposes firearm microstamping, a controversial method of imprinting casings with a unique marking to match it with a specific firearm, and would allow veterans to register unlicensed firearms.[30]
Lankford opposed a 2018 ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma, calling it "harmful to the social fabric of Oklahoma" and arguing that it would have a "dramatic effect on our families and our schools and our businesses and the future of our state".[37][38] He also appeared in a video ad calling for defeat of the initiative, stating: "Our families won't be better if more parents and grandparents smoke more marijuana."[39]The measure passed with 57% of the vote.[40]
In 2015, Lankford introduced the Keeping out Illegal Drugs (KIDS) Act to block federal funds for Indian tribes that allow the cultivation or distribution of marijuana on their land.[41] Lankford stated: "It is important for our nation to help address this issue for the sake of the next generation of Native Americans. This legislation is a good step in trying to protect young tribal members and fulfill our trust responsibility to Native Americans."[42]
Defense
Lankford supports extending the Patriot Act and expanding roving wiretaps occurring in the US.[30] He supports the prioritization of security, starting with military bases.[30]
Environment
Lankford supports expanding exploration of gas and oil both domestically and on the outer continental shelf.[30] He opposes the Environmental Protection Agency regulating emission standards as he believes it hinders economic growth.[30] Lankford believes manure and other fertilizers should not be classified as pollutants or hazardous.[30]
Lankford has rejected the scientific consensus on climate change, calling it a "myth" in 2010.[43] In 2018, he strongly criticized the National Science Foundation for funding projects that seek to increase reporting on climate change in weathercasts, saying it "is not science—it is propagandizing."[44][45]
Healthcare
Lankford opposes the Affordable Care Act and has voted to repeal it.[46][47] In a 2017 Facebook post, he claimed "Since 2013, a majority of states are seeing premiums and costs double, including states that expanded Medicaid".[48]
Lankford has stated his belief that federally funded health insurance is unconstitutional and that he will oppose any and all moves for a federal healthcare system.[30] He supported an initiative to allow Medicare choice and institute budget cuts.[30]
Abortion
Lankford opposes abortion.[30] He believes Congress should recognize life at the moment of fertilization.[30] He opposes any federally funded programs that allow for abortion, as well as Planned Parenthood and other similar groups.[30]
Lankford supported Oklahoma Question 711, a statewide constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions that passed in 2004 with 75% of the vote and remained law until it was challenged in court and struck down by a federal judge as unconstitutional in 2014. Lankford lambasted the decision, saying that "marriage is a state issue and Oklahoma has spoken."[49] He also endorsed the Defense of Marriage Act and condemned the 2013 Supreme Court decision striking down parts of the law.
Lankford has defended businesses and individuals opposing LGBT rights, including Chick-fil-A in the wake of its denunciation over donations to groups opposing same-sex marriage, and Phil Robertson after he was suspended from Duck Dynasty in 2013 following comments regarded as anti-LGBT and racist. Lankford attacked A&E for suspending Robertson, writing that Robertson "should be able to speak his views without fear of being silenced."[49]
In 2012, five days after President Barack Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, the first sitting U.S. president to do so, Lankford told a ThinkProgress interviewer that he believed homosexuality is a choice and that employers should be allowed to terminate workers for their sexual orientation: "I think it's a choice issue." After LGBT advocates condemned his statements, Lankford defended himself on local television, reiterating his view that homosexuality is a choice.[50][51][52]
In 2022, Lankford voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which later passed, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and requiring all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages. He said the bill disrespected religious liberty and had the potential to cause even more division among Americans. According to Lankford, the bill was about not equality but rather "making some people's rights more important than others'".[56][57]
Xinjiang
In August 2018, Lankford, Marco Rubio and 15 other lawmakers urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in western China's Xinjiang region.[58] They wrote: "The detention of as many as a million or more Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in "political reeducation" centers or camps requires a tough, targeted, and global response."[59]
Race relations
In June 2020, Lankford criticized President Trump's decision to walk to the St John's Episcopal Church near the White House, calling it "confrontational". In a BBC interview he said that racism passes on from one generation to the next, and he challenged families to invite a family of a different ethnicity to their home for a meal, to "allow friendship to develop where there has only been friendliness in the past".[60]
In January 2021, after Lankford questioned the validity of the 2020 presidential election, some Black Tulsa leaders called for him to resign from both the 1921 Race Massacre Centennial Committee and the Senate. They saw the false fraud allegations, which focused on primarily Black cities, as an attack on Black voters.[61] Lankford later apologized for his role in casting doubt on Black votes.[62]
2020 election
After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Trump refused to concede, Lankford said he would intervene and ensure that Biden, the incoming president, would receive intelligence briefings. Shortly thereafter, he backtracked, said the media had twisted his words, and said "I'm not in a hurry, necessarily, to get Joe Biden these briefings."[63]
Lankford praised the United States Supreme Court decision Groff v. DeJoy for making it "clear to every employer that Americans can have a faith and live their faith everywhere, including at work".[69]
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