For the first time in six years, Tulsa’s 1st District will have a new congressman.
With a pledge to serve only six years, former U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Oklahoma, chose not to run for a third term and instead was named by President Trump as the new chief administrator of NASA.
Five Republicans and five Democrats will be on the primary ballot June 26. If no candidate gets 50 percent plus 1 vote in the primary, there will be a runoff in August with the general election to follow November 6.
Here is some information on the candidates. (Note: Some candidates have provided almost no information on their backgrounds).
Republicans
Andy Coleman
Andy Coleman graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy where he majored in foreign area studies and political science (with a minor in German).
After graduation, Coleman was an intelligence officer with USCENTAF, the unit that focused on the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. He deployed for a while to the Middle East. Coleman shifted to the Reserves and served in Europe.
Capt. Andy Coleman was mobilized to active duty during the “surge” in Iraq and assigned to the Army. He was deployed to Baghdad with a Civil Affairs brigade. In that capacity, he encountered persecuted Iraqi Christians.
Coleman got his law degree from The University of Kanas School of Law, where he was editor of the Law Review and a leader in the Christian Legal Society. Coleman interned with the Alliance Defense Fund and became a ADF Blackstone Fellow. He also worked for a federal judge and in a district attorney’s office.
After law school, he joined an international law firm and dealt
