Madison Horn defeated Jason Bollinger in Tuesday night’s Democratic U.S. Senate runoff election and has advanced to face incumbent Republican Sen. James Lankford in Oklahoma’s Nov. 8 general election.
With about 78 percent of the precincts reporting to the State Election Board, Horn had received 43,762 votes to Bollinger’s 24,564.
Horn is a Stillwell native and a Cherokee Nation citizen. She most recently worked for Siemens Energy until June 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile.
According to her campaign website, Horn states she would work to strengthen education by expanding early childhood education and trying to raise pay for teachers.
Horn also writes that she wants to ensure individuals’ rights to reproductive health services and increase access to quality health care for marginalized populations and rural areas.
All results posted by the Oklahoma State Election Board online are unofficial until they are certified by the board.
Libertarian Kenneth Blevins and independent Michael Delaney will also be on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Horn and Bollinger clashed over filing paperwork
In April, Bollinger filed a contestation of candidacy petition to remove Horn from their ballot, claiming that Horn’s declaration of candidacy form was incomplete and contained false information. However, the Oklahoma State Election Board voted 3-0 to deny his petition, keeping Horn on the ballot.
Horn, the only witness at the post-midnight hearing, testified that she was told there were problems with her voter ID number by State Election Board officials, and so she marked it out. Horn also testified that she was told she did not need to provide her voter registration number on her candidacy filing to run for U.S. Senate.
The morning after the hearing, Horn issued a press release calling Bollinger’s petition to remove her from the ballot a “disingenuous stunt.”
On a few occasions we expressed our mutual respect for one another and reinforced the fact that we are allies and should not “throw mud” because Oklahomans deserve to see leaders who are above today’s political games. Then, he broke his word. My opponent filed false allegations in an attempt to defame me and my candidacy, putting into question his oath as an attorney. His actions have shown his true character and point to his insecurities about the viability of his own campaign.
Horn is unrelated to Kendra Horn, the former 5th Congressional District representative who is the Democratic nominee for Oklahoma’s other U.S. Senate seat, which is also on the ballot in November owing to the retirement of Jim Inhofe.
Lankford, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 following the death of Sen. Tom Coburn, holds a commanding fundraising advantage after fending off challengers from his political right in June.
