It was one in, one out on Monday as the field of contenders for the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Jim Inhofe early next year continued to take shape.
Out was Mayor G.T. Bynum, who said he is not running for Inhofe’s seat or any other office in 2022.
In was state Sen. Nathan Dahm, who said he is shifting his campaign from a challenge to incumbent Sen. James Lankford to the special election for the vacant seat.
That special election will be held concurrently to this year’s regular election calendar, meaning primaries on June 28, runoffs in August and general election in November.
“I will not be a candidate for anything in 2022,” Bynum said Monday morning on KRMG news radio. “We got so much to do in the time that I have got left as mayor, and I have got young kids that I want to participate in them growing up and being great people when they leave and go away to college.
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“So, no, I will not be running for anything this year. I am going to be focused on the job that folks already gave me.”
Bynum, 44, was elected mayor in 2016. He won a second four-year term in 2020 and has said he would not run for mayor again. Before becoming mayor, he served eight years on the City Council.
Bynum did not rule out a future run for public office but made it clear that he has no idea what the future will hold after he leaves the mayor’s office in 2024.
“I have said that I would serve two terms as mayor and not run again because I feel strongly that you need to have a sense of urgency in the job and not think that you are going to be in it forever,” Bynum said. “And that is definitely the case for me having term-limited myself to two terms.
“And after that, you just never know. “
Bynum added: “The thing that I value most in the heroes that I have had in my life is their commitment to service and selflessness. And I am always going to want to try to find ways to serve Tulsa, and whether that is in elected office or out of it, I have no idea.
“I don’t even know what I am going to be doing three years from now.”
Dahm, who began his U.S. Senate campaign in September, said he believed all along that he would be competing for an open seat.
“As my wife and I were praying about the next steps, where God would take us to serve the people of Oklahoma, we felt that we were going to be on the ballot in 2022,” Dahm said in a video posted to his campaign website.
“As we prayed further, we felt we would be running for United States Senate,” Dahm continued. “As we continued to pray, we felt it would be in a special election.”
Dahm said that’s why he has been hesitant to directly attack Lankford — the strategy of fellow challenger Jackson Lahmeyer — and has instead focused on his own record.
“No one has the record I do,” Dahm said in a telephone interview. “I’m running for the U.S. Senate. I’m not running against anyone.”
A lifelong Republican, Bynum is the grandson of former Tulsa Mayor Robert LaFortune, who served from 1970 to 1978. His cousin Bill LaFortune was mayor from 2002 to 2006.
Before entering local politics, Bynum lived in Washington, D.C., where he worked as a staffer for Republican U.S. Sens. Don Nickels, from 2000 to 2005, and Tom Coburn, from 2005 to 2006.
Dahm’s first political race was an unsuccessful entry in the 2008 1st Congressional District Republican primary. He was elected to the state Senate in 2012 and has twice won reelection by wide margins.
As a state senator, Dahm has a reputation as something of a maverick often at odds with Republican leadership.
Dahm said he pictures himself in the mold of former President Donald Trump, Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
A “Hern for U.S. Senate” Facebook page went live Monday, but a spokeswoman for 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern, who is thought likely to get into the race, said it is not connected to him.
Featured video: Tulsa World Newsroom: The story behind Sen. Jim Inhofe with political reporter Randy Krehbiel
The longtime Oklahoma Republican is expected to announce his retirement soon. Tulsa World Editor Jason Collington looks back at Jim Inhofe as Tulsa mayor and other noteworthy events in his political career with veteran Tulsa World political reporter Randy Krehbiel. Find the Tulsa World Newsroom podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify.
Running or rumored? U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's seat draws candidates across Oklahoma
Kendra Horn
Any Democrat is an extreme longshot, but former 5th District Congresswoman Kendra Horn might have the best chance of at least making the Republican nominee know they’ve been in a fight.
Horn lost narrowly to Republican Stephanie Bice in 2020. The 5th District has since been redrawn into a safe Republican seat.
Horn, 45, changed her House campaign committee from Kendra Horn for Congress to Kendra Horn for Senate. Her campaign account had about $57,000 at the end of 2021; that money can be transferred to the Senate race.
TW Shannon
This will be T.W. Shannon's second try for the Senate, in both cases under somewhat unusual circumstances. Eight years ago, Shannon gave up the Oklahoma House speaker's chair to enter the Republican primary to replace Sen. Tom Coburn, who had submitted his resignation in February, effective the following January.
Shannon wound up losing to then-Congressman James Lankford in a runoff.
Nathan Dahm
State Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, was elected Oklahoma Republican Party chairman on Saturday.
Markwayne Mullin
In the wake of last week’s mass shooting in Tulsa, 2nd District Congressman Markwayne Mullin, told ABC News that any discussion of firearms must consider the “purity” of the Second Amendment.
Kevin Hern
Hern
Trent Shores
Trent Shores, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District, may not be well-known to the public but is highly respected within the Republican Party.
Jackson Lahmeyer
Jackson Lahmeyer is already running for Senate — Oklahoma’s other seat — and informed supporters in an email on Saturday that he intends to stay in the race against incumbent Republican James Lankford and will endorse and rally his supporters behind a candidate for the Inhofe seat.
Kevin Stitt
Gov. Kevin Stitt built up record savings including in the Rainy Day Fund that gives the state opportunities in tax reform, education funding and infrastructure upgrades.
Matt Pinnell
Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell has national contacts from his days as a high-level official in the Republican Party, but won't run for the seat.
"I truly love serving as Oklahoma's Lt. Governor, and I know we're making a real difference in this position. We're well on our way in making Oklahoma a top 10 state, but there's more work to be done. I'm dedicated to continuing that work for years to come," he said. "Lisa and I have four kids still at home, from a sophomore to a kindergartner. I'm committed to being their dad first and Oklahoma's Lt. Governor second."
Scott Inman
Nobody gives an old-fashioned stem-winder like Democrat Scott Inman, pictured in 2017, the former state House minority leader and one-time gubernatorial candidate. Inman confirmed to Tulsa World he has no intention to run.
Mike Workman
A frequent candidate for Oklahoma office, Democrat Mike Workman, pictured in 2016, says he’ll announce his candidacy Friday.
