Former three-term Republican representative Tom Coburn emerged victorious in one of the nastiest Senate races in the country. Locked in a tight battle against Rep. Brad Carson (D) to claim the seat of retiring Sen. Don Nickles (R), Coburn was carried to victory by the state's overwhelming support for President Bush.
Coburn, a physician, joins the Senate with a reputation as a maverick and a conservative -- and for making impolitic remarks. During the campaign, he said he favored the death penalty for abortion providers and that he had heard there was "rampant lesbianism" in Oklahoma schools. He called state legislators "crapheads" and raised the ire of Native Americans by questioning their federal assistance programs.
Coburn (R) ... 53% Carson (D) ... 41%
|
|
In 1997, Coburn helped lead a revolt against then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). In a book published last year, "Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders," Coburn compared Republican leaders to the biblical Pharisees.
