Oklahoma GOP House primary to replace Rep. Markwayne Mullin heads to runoff

Kaelan Deese

June 28, 10:21 PM June 28, 11:12 PM

A packed race for Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District will head to a runoff election following Tuesday's Republican primary election.

Oklahoma state Rep. Avery Frix and former state Sen. Josh Brecheen will compete in a runoff election on Aug. 23 after neither candidate in the crowded race achieved above the 50% threshold needed to gain the primary victory.

The eastern Oklahoma House seat contest was triggered by the decision of sitting Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to compete in another crowded race for Senate. Mullin joined the Senate Republican primary race after GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe, 87, announced earlier this year that he would leave the seat in January 2023 with four years left in his six-year term.

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After finishing the night in first with 14.7% of the popular vote, Frix said he was "humbled," noting that "Markwayne Mullin leaves big shoes to fill, but I am ready to step up and do the job of putting America First" in a statement to NonDoc.

Frix, 28, was the youngest candidate in the race and heavily aligned himself alongside the policies of former President Donald Trump's administration, a key facet that brought many voters in the state to support Mullin for five terms in the House.

“As your congressman, I will fight tirelessly to fight Biden’s inflation, lower gas prices by making America energy independent again, finish Trump’s border wall, and bring Oklahoma values to Washington," Frix added.

Brecheen, 42, finished the race with 13.8% of the popular vote and represented state Senate District 6 from 2010 to 2018. He previously worked for former Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK).

A total of 14 candidates filed to run for Mullin's seat, which is seen as a high priority among the GOP establishment in the state following the 2020 Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which voided the state's criminal jurisdiction over crimes committed by or against tribal citizens.

Since the decision, only tribes and the federal government have prosecutorial authority in a large eastern portion of Oklahoma, which includes the area covered under the state's 2nd Congressional District.

Former Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman John Bennett, who announced his run for Congress in March, told the Washington Examiner in April that he would support the disestablishment of the Muscogee Nation reservation as a way to bring the state's criminal jurisdiction back to the way it had been prior to the 2020 high court decision.

"So when I get to Congress, this will be one of my priorities because it hurts everyone in my district, tribal and nontribal. And this is something that Congress should fix," Bennett said, contending with Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt's position that the McGirt decision has drastically affected Oklahoma's law enforcement capabilities.

Bennett, who trailed between fourth and fifth place for the popular vote on Tuesday, had his statement rebuked by members of the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes one day after his comments to the Washington Examiner.

"Oklahoma is strongest when our tribes are at the table," they wrote in a statement. "Candidates who seek to restrict our rights and disestablish our reservations, after the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed twice that they have always existed, do not deserve to represent our state."

Another GOP candidate who was in the race for CD2, Wes Nofire, is a sitting lawmaker on the Cherokee Nation's 17-person Tribal Council and disagreed with Bennett and other candidates who have contended for tribal disestablishment, citing a need for representation that understands land that is legally deemed "Indian Country."

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"There's not going to be anybody else out there with the Indian federal policy experience that I have," Nofire told the Oklahoman in April.

Naomi Andrews is the only Democratic candidate for the 2nd Congressional District and will face off against the Republican victor in November. The district is deep red and is almost certain to stay in Republican hands.