YOU DECIDE 2022: Mullin promises steady conservative hand, Horn pledges independence, moderation

TULSA, Okla. — With no debate scheduled, FOX23 spoke with the top two contenders to replace long-time retiring U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe.

Senatorial nominees former Congresswoman Kendra Horn (D) and Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R) said there are stark differences between the two, and voters should take note about who will sit in the seat that hasn’t been vacated in more than 30 years.

“Education is on the ballot,” Horn said. “Women’s health is on the ballot. Our jobs and economic future are on the ballot, and people know it.”

“They’re frustrated with inflation,” Mullin said. “They’re frustrated the price of everything going through the roof. No one I meet says they were better off now than they were two years ago.”

Mullin, who first took office in the middle of the Obama Administration, said he first decided and continues to seek public service because his family’s plumbing business among other business ventures were “being hammered with red tape and regulations by the Federal government.” He said once again, another Democratic administration is making life harder for the average American.

“This is a hard-fought fight, but our message is resonating,” Mullin said. “People are ready for change, and they’re excited for the change to make it happen.”

During his tenure in the U.S. House, Mullin has become one of the strongest allies of former President Donald Trump (R). At one time, he filed a bill to have Trump’s impeachment votes to be expunged from the Congressional record. Since leaving office, Trump has stayed in touch with Mullin, and Mullin took his family recently to visit the President at his Florida residence Mar-A-Lago.

Mullin said from him, Oklahomans will get a conservative Republican with no socialist surprises. He believes Oklahoma will continue its migration away from the Democratic Party.

“This is not the party of JFK anymore,” Mullin said. “They’re a part of this woke movement that wants to censor everyone that doesn’t agree with their point of view. They openly embrace cancel culture and brag about wanting a socialist agenda.”

But the man promising no socialist surprises is facing a woman who surprised the entire state and nation when she flipped a traditionally Republican district blue in 2018.

Horn is promoting herself as an independent moderate whose voting record while she was in the U.S. House showed she was not afraid to buck party leadership and vote down many of their bills she didn’t feel were appropriate for Oklahoma.

“The labels we put on each other get in the way of progress and solutions,” Horn told FOX23. “I am a solidly moderate Democrat. I think we need to bring back compromise, consensus, and incremental change. What I find is that the more we talk to each other, the more we find out we have a lot in common.”

Horn admitted the Democratic Party has struggled to reach Oklahomans in recent years, but she said Oklahoma Democrats like her cannot be lumped with people like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (A.O.C.) (D-N.Y.) who openly embrace heavy socialist and hard left policies that to many Oklahomans are hard to swallow. Horn said she follows in the tradition of Democrats like Former Speaker of the House Carl Albert (D-Okla.) and U.S. Sen. Robert S. Kerr (D-Okla.) who were ready to get to work while protecting Oklahoma’s interests.

“I voted against my party many times,” Horn said. “There were some bills my party leadership wanted to push for that were poorly written and had some pretty awful things inside. I’m not afraid to say no to my own party.”

Horn said by running as a Democrat is what is becoming a traditionally Republican stronghold, she is offering Oklahomans a chance to have a powerful independent voice that can’t be taken for granted but instead must be sought after for compromise to occur.

“I believe in service,” Horn said. “I am a fifth generation Oklahoman whose parents, grandparents, and great grandparents instilled in her the value of showing up to do the hard work and do what’s right.”

But an unexpected issue has come up on the campaign trail in recent months. Mullin and Horn will not debate each other before voters can cast their ballots on Nov. 8.

Mullin said Horn has run a negative campaign that is focused on personal attacks, and he believes agreeing to a debate will lead to political theater instead of fruitful discussions on policy. Mullin said he prefers to spend that time meeting with voters.

“She’s just trying to use us to get her attention,” Mullin said. “There’s no point in me just standing up there to give her a platform to attack us. We run a very clean and positive campaign. You’ve never seen a negative ad come from us. So what’s the upside of this?”

Horn, on the other hand, said Mullin’s refusal to debate her shows Mullin feels entitled to the Senate seat, and she accused him of failing to show up for a job interview.

“We have real issues facing Oklahomans, and anyone who is unwilling to show up, look their opponent in the eye, look Oklahomans in the eye and answer the hard questions doesn’t really mean that they want to work for all Oklahomans,” Horn said.

With Horn being from Oklahoma City and Mullin being from eastern Oklahoma, both candidates told FOX23 they were finding that there were Oklahomans out there, especially in western Oklahoma, who have never met them or seen them in person. They feel with so much work to be done meeting voters in parts of the state they did not represent in Congress, the door is open to swing voters their way as long as they can get face time with them and hear their concerns in person.

“We have a lot of work to do still, and we have made some great progress,” Mullin said about voters in central and western Oklahoma. “I still think we have a lot more work to do in the western part of the state, but I will say, it’s a humbling moment when you go out to Guymon in the panhandle, and you finally get to put a face to a name on a list of supporters, or you meet someone for the first time whose already put their trust in you who you’ve only spoken to on the phone.”

“We are crisscrossing this state meeting everyone we can because I want to work for everyone,” Horn said. “It’s not just asking for their vote, but we need to build these relationships because we will meet again when it’s time to work for them in the Senate.”