Stephanie Bice, a Republican state senator, on Wednesday defeated Consultant Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, toppling one of the vital susceptible Democra
Stephanie Bice, a Republican state senator, on Wednesday defeated Consultant Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, toppling one of the vital susceptible Democrats in a deeply conservative state and giving Republicans a pickup as they pressed so as to add to their numbers within the Home.
The victory of Ms. Bice, 46, returned the Fifth District to Republicans, who had held it for greater than 40 years earlier than Ms. Horn’s gorgeous upset in 2018, which made her the lone Democrat representing the state in Congress. Republicans had singled out Ms. Horn’s seat, which represents Oklahoma Metropolis, as certainly one of their likeliest alternatives to claw again seats and counter any Democratic good points.
Seen as a rising star within the state legislature, Ms. Bice will bolster the minuscule ranks of Republican girls within the Home, whose numbers have shrunk at the same time as Democrats have made historical past with the racial and gender range of their members. She overcame a tricky main and runoff race by framing herself as extra reasonable than her opponents, although she later highlighted her conservative credentials and an endorsement from the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation.
Ms. Bice accused Ms. Horn of getting did not uphold her promise to be an unbiased voice in Washington, branding the congresswoman a stalwart ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and urging voters to finish what she known as the “Pelosi Majority” in Washington.
“In Congress, I’ll be just right for you — not Nancy Pelosi,” Ms. Bice declared in a current marketing campaign advert.
Whereas she was cautious to safe the assist of Mr. Trump and different high nationwide Republicans, she sought to root her marketing campaign in native points, emphasizing her assist for the state’s oil and gasoline trade and the work she had accomplished within the Legislature. Nationwide Republicans additionally poured hundreds of thousands of {dollars} into the race, in an effort to offset Ms. Horn’s fund-raising prowess.
Ms. Horn, for her half, had sought to duplicate the playbook that helped her safe the seat in 2018, highlighting her assist for the Reasonably priced Care Act and training within the state. She had additionally upheld her reasonable credentials and her willingness to interrupt together with her social gathering, together with rejecting Democratic stimulus proposals for being too expensive and partisan and chiding former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presidential nominee, for his calls to “transition” from oil and gasoline.
However having received the district by a razor-thin two factors in 2018, she had a steep climb to re-election. Singled out by Republicans as a crucial alternative to flip a seat in a district that Mr. Trump received by practically 14 factors in 2016, Ms. Horn was unable to hold on.