WASHINGTON – It’s a three-man race this year in the Republican primary for Oklahoma’s 3rd congressional district, with two challengers hoping to unseat one of the longest-serving members of the House.
Rep. Frank Lucas of Cheyenne was first elected in 1994 and will reach an even 30 years of service if reelected this cycle. Retired Enid pastor Wade Burleson and Yukon businessman Stephen Butler are the GOP hopefuls aiming to end Lucas’ congressional career.
The primary winner will face Democrat Jeremiah Ross, of Bristow, in the general election. The Cook Political Report rates the district as R+29, meaning it is 29 percentage points more Republican than the nation as a whole.
Oklahoma’s 3rd district, the largest in the state, includes all of the panhandle and northwestern Oklahoma and slivers of both Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
The Watonga Republican submitted questions by email to all three GOP candidates, asking Lucas about his record in Congress and asking Butler and Burleson why they’re running for the seat. In alphabetical order, here are the contenders for the 3rd district.
Burleson, 60, is the former pastor of Emmanuel Enid and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention of Oklahoma. Burleson pastored Emmanuel for 30 years before retiring in January 2022. He announced his run for Congress the following month.
Calling himself “far more conservative and libertarian” than Lucas, Burleson said he is running to “keep the federal government out of your business, your bank account, your backyard, and your body.”
“Liberty is desired by all but defined by few,” Burleson told the Watonga Republican. “Liberty is like breathing: appreciation for it rises in direct proportion to its loss. You don’t think about breathing until you can’t breathe, and you don’t thing about liberty until you are not free.”
He criticized Lucas for serving on the Science, Space, and Technology and Financial Services committees rather than the Agriculture Committee. “What does a western Oklahoma rancher and cattleman have to do with Big Tech and Big Banking?” Burleson asked, calling Lucas the “most liberal congressman in terms of voting record of all our Congressional delegation.”
Lucas has a lifetime 85% rating from the American Conservative Union, a rightwing organization best known for hosting the Conservative Political Action Conference, and a 77% rating in its most recent grades.
Burleson said he will speak “truth to power” in Congress and gave an example from his time with the SBC. Burleson recommended in 2007 that the organization establish a public database of pastors and church staff who had been credibly accused or convicted of sexual abuse. The SBC Executive Committee rejected the recommendation at the time, but finally released the list in 2022 after a scathing report found that SBC leaders knew about hundreds of cases but often failed to act.
Burleson said he initially rejected the idea of running for Congress when approached, but changed his mind when his wife encouraged him. “Every smart man listens to his wife,” Burleson said.
“I believe in LIBERTY,” he wrote in summation. “I want to keep the federal government OUT of your business.” More information about Burleson is available at burlesonforcongress.com.
Butler, who is also 60, told the Watonga Republican he intends to “shake things up” in Washington and help shrink the size and power of the federal government. A libertarian-leaning conservative, Butler said he has operated his own window cleaning business for 28 years.
Butler believes Lucas has been in office for too long. “I’m sure Mr Lucas is a fine man,” Butler wrote, “but nobody should spend 30 years in congress. He was in Oklahoma politics for five years before that. At some point you just become part of the machine and I’m sure a lot of your decisions are based solely on how it affects your (reelection).”
Butler said he would serve only two or three terms if elected.
Some of the policies Butler said he’d pursue in Congress included shutting down or scaling back federal agencies; expanding constitutional carry, or the right to carry a firearm without a license or permit; instituting federal term limits; and changing forfeiture laws that allow law enforcement agencies to seize cash and property from suspected criminals. He also vowed to never vote for an omnibus bill or “any of those thousand page bills nobody can even read.”
“Members don’t even write those things, their staff and special interest do,” Butler said. “Just plain lazy politics by people who are part of the machine.”
Butler said Lucas “seems to like to go along to get along.”
“He’s not outspoken and seems content with just bringing home a little pork and knowing his place in congress,” Butler said. Butler said he would be prepared to support Burleson over Lucas because he is “not a politician,” but said the two might differ on “the role of religion in politics.”
“While I support all religions and the morals they espouse, I believe in making decisions on what’s best for the country and nothing else,” Butler said. “I know the Republican party is largely Christian but I would also represent the people who are not Christians too.”
Butler’s Facebook campaign page is Steve B in 2023.
Finally, the incumbent Lucas will be a familiar name to anyone who’s followed Oklahoma politics over the past quarter-century. Lucas has served as western Oklahoma’s congressman since 1994, first in the 6th district and now in the 3rd. An Oklahoma State University graduate with a background in agriculture, Lucas told the Watonga Republican that he lives by “Oklahoma’s values.”
“Oklahomans know all too well the harmful impact burdensome federal policies can have on people and their communities,” Lucas wrote, “and it’s the protection of our values and liberties that keep me wanting to serve the people of Oklahoma’s Third Congressional District.”
Lucas said some of the recent legislation he’s most proud of includes the 2018 Farm Bill, the National Defense Authorization Act that sets the annual military budget, and the CARES Act of 2020 that allocated billions to Oklahoma hospitals and small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he will work to enact a “fiscally responsible agenda” if the Republican Party retakes control of the House of Representatives during the 2022 midterm elections.
Though his opponents criticized his long tenure in Congress – Lucas is the fourth-most senior Republican in the U.S. House – Lucas said his experience has earned him “seniority that is critical to influencing policy” not only in Oklahoma but throughout the United States. He said chairing the Science, Space, and Technology Committee will “help bring enormous amounts of resources to Oklahoma’s higher education institutions” and ensure “our country doesn’t stand second to China or Russia in terms of defense and aerospace.”
“I also plan on being back on the House Committee on Agriculture,” Lucas said. “… With my seniority comes great potential to influence policy that will greatly benefit the great state of Oklahoma.”
Lucas’ official House website is lucas.house.gov, and his campaign webpage can be found at frankdlucas.com.