This summer, while traveling through rural Oklahoma, I had the unique opportunity to observe first-hand the campaign for a national office—the Oklahoma seat in the U.S. Senate—being conducted at the grassroots level in the small town of Claremore, Oklahoma.
I wrote about it in “Oklahoma’s Rice vs. Inhofe — David vs. Goliath?”
Although the young Democratic Oklahoma State Senator, Andrew Rice, fought a valiant, uphill battle, he came a little short against the incumbent, powerful Republican Jim Inhofe.
Just “a little.” When all was said and done, when all the votes were counted, the incumbent had won 57 percent of the vote while his young challenger received 39 percent of the Oklahoma vote. Not bad in the first round of David vs. Goliath. Not bad when, as KOCO.com reports, “The 73-year-old Inhofe spent $6 million in his re-election bid, more than twice as much as Rice, who has served only two years in the state Senate from Oklahoma City.”
I am sure we will hear and see much more of Andrew Rice in the future. If there is a second David vs. Goliath round, the “just a little” might become truly just a little—and in Rice’s favor.
Rice supporters received the following note from the Oklahoma State Senator:
Thank you so much to all of you who poured your heart and soul into my campaign. I owe all of my success to the amazing support given by so many Oklahomans who are ready for change.
You showed an inspiring love of this country and this state, and you should all be proud for everything we’ve done. It’s true that we did not achieve the result we wanted in the Senate race, but we gave this race everything we had – flat out maximum effort.
Every time I put the success of our campaign into your hands, you came through. You carried me through the toughest times and you lifted our campaign higher than any pundit thought possible.
Thank you, from the very bottom of my heart.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to my wife Apple, my sons, Noah and Parker, and my parents Cindy and Hugh. They all gave up so much to get behind my campaign, and it will be an absolute joy to spend more time together as a family over the next few weeks.
From the very beginning, I was in this race to help build a better future for Noah and Parker. They deserve the change we seek, and for that reason I will always pledge to keep working to make our state as great as I know it can be. I look forward to my return to the Oklahoma State Senate where I will continue to work for Oklahoma families with my colleagues from both political parties.
I was lucky to meet so many amazing people and hear so many inspiring stories on the campaign trail. As long as I can count on you to stay involved, I know we can keep right on doing great things for Oklahoma.
Thank you,
Andrew
Good luck, Senator. From someone who was just “passing through.”
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.