By Constitution Staff

The U.S. Congress is composed of two chambers. Senators serve six-year terms with only a third of the seats up each election year. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe was reelected to fill one of Oklahoma's two senate seats in 2008, the other seat will be filled this year. All the seats of the U.S. House of Representatives are up each election year. All of the incumbents are running for reelection, except for Mary Fallin who is running for governor.

The candidate filing period will be June 7-8-9, 2010. The Primary Election will be held on July 27, the Runoff Primary Election on August 24, and the General Election on November 2.

U.S. Senate

In the U.S. Senate race, Tom Coburn is running for a second six-year term, and is heavily favored to win. He ranks as one of the most conservative voting members of the Senate, making it highly unlikely he will face any significant Republican or Democrat challenge. According to the most recent campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission, Coburn has over $1 million of cash on hand for his reelection campaign.

U.S. House of Representatives

First District

Congressman John Sullivan, who took a one month leave of absence from Congress last year to battle alcohol abdication, is facing opposition from within the Republican Party. He already has one announced opponent for the GOP nomination and another is being urged to enter the race.

Nathan Dahm of Broken Arrow is running as a constitutional conservative. He formerly served as a Christian missionary in Romania and currently works as an Engineering Technician. He has been active in the Tulsa County Republican Party.

The Draft Dave campaign a group of conservatives who are working to encourage former University of Tulsa Coach Dave Rader to run for the GOP nomination.

Second District

Congressman Dan Boren was elected to the second district in 2004 and is the only Democrat in the Oklahoma congressional delegation. While the most recent campaign funding reports show that Boren has a campaign war chest of $1.3 million (more than any other congressional candidate in Oklahoma), a host of Republicans are vying for the chance to take on Boren in the General Election.

The first to jump into the race for the Republican nomination was Dan Arnett, 25, of Henryetta, Oklahoma. After earning a Bachelor's in History and Political Science from Oklahoma Christian University, Arnett was accepted to Drexel University in Philadelphia where he is in his final year of studies. He says he is running to bring back accountability, backbone, and a respect for our Constitution.

Daniel Edmonds is a life-long native of Morris, Oklahoma and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in soil science at Oklahoma State University while farming and ranching. He also works as a Research Fellow with Oklahoma State University. He previously served as an Agricultural Policy intern for Congressman Frank D. Lucas.

Charles Thompson of Hulbert served the United States Army in both an active duty and reserve capacity for just over 25 years. He received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Oklahoma State University, and returned to the Army as a Veterinary Corps Officer and eventually retired as a Major. From 2000 to 2005 he owned a mixed animal practice in Fort Gibson, and has since worked for a large veterinary pharmaceutical company. Earlier this year he was elected to serve on the Hulbert School Board.

Howard Houchen calls himself a Reagan Conservative and constitutionalist. He is a small businessman and graduate of University of Oklahoma with a degree in Political Science and a Masters degree in National Security Studies from American Military University. He lives in Hugo where he manages the operations of a family business, All American Garage Doors, Inc. Houchen is the most visible of the candidates and is ahead in fundraising.

Third District

Frank Lucas was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in a special election in 1994, and is currently serving his ninth term as a member of Congress. Lucas is considered secure in the strongly Republican district. His opposition to the federal bailout in 2008 -- he was the only member of the U.S. House from Oklahoma to oppose it -- may have protected him from a conservative challenge.

Fourth District

Congressman Tom Cole was elected to Congress in 2002 and is running for a fifth term. But, he may face a spirited primary with two conservative Republicans who have announced their intentions to challenge him for the Republican nomination. Both are miliary veterans, which is important in the fourth district which includes two large military bases -- Tinker Air Force Base and Fort Sill Army Post. Cole has accumulated over a half-million dollar campaign fund.

R.J. Harris is a currently serving nineteen-year Oklahoma Army National Guard Officer and a two-time Iraq War Veteran. He is a University of Oklahoma graduate in Philosophy and a second year law student at the OU College of Law. Harris is running as a constitutional conservative Republican and is 912 Liberty Candidate. Harris says he was motivated to make the race primarily because of Cole's vote for the TARP bailout in the fall of 2008. A recent poll released by Harris, conducted by Persistence Consulting LLC, puts Tom Cole at 45%, and Harris at 33% with 22% undecided.

Hector Diaz, a retired military veteran, says he wants to get the government back to its constitutional roots and get it out of the way. Diaz was born in Philadelphia, PA to refugees from Castro's Cuba in 1961. He joined the Air Force and ended up in Midwest City, Oklahoma doing computer programming for the Air Force AWACS system and in 1996 went to Saudi Arabia in support of US operations in Iraq and Kuwait. He moved to Moore, Oklahoma in 1998 and after support operations in Kosovo retired from the Air Force in 2000. Since that time he has continues to work as a Software Engineer in Del City, Oklahoma.

Fifth District

Mary Fallin's decision to run for governor has spurred a flood of candidates (at least on the Republican side) to fill the open seat.

Following Fallin's announcement for governor, former state Rep. Kevin Calvey quickly became an announced candidate. Calvey served from 1998-2006 in the Oklahoma Legislature where he earned a 78% Conservative Index rating. He was a candidate in the crowded Republican primary in 2006, when Fallin won the seat. Calvey left politics following the election and volunteered to deploy with the Army National Guard to Iraq. Calvey's mission was to prosecute terrorists in the Iraqi court system, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Calvey has benefitted from the support of many conservative groups, including the Club for Growth, the nation's premier fiscal conservative advocacy group which helped propel Dr. Tom Coburn to victory in the US Senate primary over establishment candidate Kirk Humphreys six years ago. Calvey has also been endorsed by the Oklahoma Rifle Association, the state's NRA affiliate, and by the president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a leading advocate for border security and enforcement of immigration laws. He most recently won the endorsement of Concerned Women for America, a nationwide group which advocates for the right to life and other social conservative issues. Calvey finished the 2009 3rd quarter, last fundraising quarter before press time with a $70,000 plus lead in campaign cash on hand.

Calvey was a vocal opponent of the Oklahoma City MAPS 3 proposal. Many conservatives were active in opposing the tax and spending on questionable municipal projects.

Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud, is a former aide to Mayor Kirk Humphreys, J.C. Watts, and Henry Bellmon. Cloud is not giving up his seat on the Corporation Commission to run. Cloud took a public stand in favor of MAPS 3. Cloud entered the race after the last fundraising report was due. (Note: After we went to press, Cloud announced he was dropping out of the race due to upcoming surgeries involving a non life-threatening medical issue).

State Rep. Mike Thompson of Oklahoma City, served as an aide to Congressman Ernest Istook when he held the seat before Fallin, and is now in the commercial real estate business. He has a 76% Conservative score. As chairman of the Energy Committee in the Oklahoma House, Thompson is competing with Cloud for campaign funds from the utilities and oil and gas industry. Thompson refused to take a public stand on MAPS 3. Thompson finished the 2009 third quarter in second place in fundraising behind Calvey.

Edmond Republican James Lankford, 41, has been the Director the Falls Creek Oklahoma Youth Camp since 1996. Falls Creek is the largest Christian youth camp in America with over 50,000 students and adults attending each summer. Lankford has also been an adjunct professor at Oklahoma Baptist University and has coordinated church mission teams around the world. Lankford has never run for public office before, but has support from some prominent Southern Baptists, the state's largest Christian denomination. Lankford refused to take a public stand on MAPS 3, saying it was a local issue. Rick Flanigan is running as a constitutional conservative. Flanigan graduated from Del City High School in 1987 and joined the Navy in 1988 and served as a damage controlman. He left the Navy in 1990 and returned to Oklahoma. Since 1996, he and his wife have owned and operated a retail battery store in Bethany, Oklahoma. He has never run for public office before. He publicly stated he opposed MAPS 3.

Dr. Johnny B. Roy, an Edmond urologist who also made the race in 2006, is running again. The last time, Roy finished last in the six person primary. He publicly stated he opposed MAPS 3.

Paul Arabie is a retired Medical Technician, USAF Veteran and a Tea Party activist. Arabie has never run for public office before. He publicly stated he opposed MAPS 3.

Some observers see a race in which Cloud and Thompson split the moderate/establishment vote and financial support, with Calvey staying competitive on the fundraising, and the other candidates lagging behind. Calvey has a reputation as a strong grassroots campaigner and conservative advocate. It is not clear if Lankford can transition into politics and move into the top tier of candidates.

No Democrats have entered the race thus far, but at least one independent may be on the ballot in November. Oklahoma Libertarian Party Vice Chair Clark Duffe announced that he will be running for the seat. Duffe, 52, of Edmond, will have to run as an Independent, due to Oklahoma's stringent ballot access laws which act to keep third parties from being officially recognized by the state.

With the official filing period in June 2010 only months away, more candidates for various offices will be testing the water or officially announcing their intentions.