WASHINGTON (BP)–One Southern Baptist defeated another in a U.S. Senate race in Oklahoma, while two Southern Baptist members of the House of Representatives lost in voting Nov. 2.
Tom Coburn, a maverick Republican who overcame his party’s state establishment to win the GOP nomination, pulled away from Democrat Rep. Brad Carson in the race for Oklahoma’s open Senate seat. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Coburn tallied 53 percent of the votes, Carson 41 percent and independent Sheila Bilyeu 6 percent.
Coburn, a physician, is a member of Muskogee’s New Community Church, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Carson is a member of First Baptist Church in Claremore.
Carson is finishing his second term as the representative from Oklahoma’s Second District. Coburn served as the congressman from that same district for three terms before leaving the House, making way for Caron’s first election to the seat in 2000. They ran for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Don Nickles, who retired.
There were no Southern Baptist members of the Senate seeking re-election this year.
In the House, Rep. Max Sandlin, a Democrat and member of First Baptist Church in Marshall, Texas, lost while seeking his fifth term from the First District of Texas. Republican Louis Gohmert defeated Sandlin, 61 to 38 percent.
In Georgia’s 12th District, Rep. Max Burns, a member of Jackson Baptist Church in Sylvania, lost his first re-election bid. Democrat John Barrow defeated Burns, 52 to 48 percent.
Following is a list, as obtained by Baptist Press, of members of Southern Baptist churches who sought re-election to the House. (Vote totals are from the website of CNN as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time Nov. 3. The number of precincts reporting varied from 94 to 100 percent.)
Alabama:
Rep. Terry Everett, Republican, Second District, seeking seventh term, First Baptist Church (hereafter, Baptist Church will be abbreviated BC), Enterprise, defeated Charles James, Democrat, 171,771-69.274, 71-29 percent.
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R., Sixth District, seeking seventh term, Hunter Street BC, Hoover, won without opposition.
Arizona:
Rep. Trent Franks, R., Second District, seeking second term, North Phoenix BC, Phoenix, defeated Randy Camacho, D., and Powell Gammill, Libertarian, 123,995-81,014-5,039, 59-39-2 percent.
Arkansas:
Rep. John Boozman, R., Third District, seeking second full term, First BC, Rogers, defeated Jan Judy, D., and Dale Morfey, Independent, 159,348-101,947-7,026, 59-38-3 percent.
Georgia:
Rep. Nathan Deal, R., Ninth District, seeking seventh term, First BC, Gainesville, won without opposition.
John Barrow, D., defeated Rep. Max Burns, R., 12th District, seeking second term, Jackson BC, Sylvania, 108,964-101,371, 52-48 percent.
Kentucky:
Rep. Ron Lewis, R., Second District, seeking seventh term, White Mills BC, White Mills, defeated Adam Smith, D., 185,058-87,446, 68-32 percent
Rep. Harold Rogers, R., Fifth District, seeking 13th term, First BC, Somerset, won without opposition.
Maryland:
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D., Fifth District, seeking 13th term, Broadview BC, Temple Hills, defeated Bradley Jewitt, R.; Bob Auerbach, Green, and Steven Krukar, Constitution, 188,694-80,738-3,802-1,727, 69-29-1-1 percent.
Mississippi:
Rep. Roger Wicker, R., First District, seeking sixth term, First BC, Tupelo, defeated Barbara Washer, Reform, 213,946-54,624, 80-20 percent.
Rep. Charles (Chip) Pickering, R., Third District, seeking fifth term, First BC, Laurel, defeated Jim Giles, I., and Lamonica Magee, Ref., 223,740-37,473-16,692, 81-13-6 percent.
Missouri:
Rep. Sam Graves, R., Sixth District, seeking third term, First BC, Tarkio, defeated Charles Broomfield, D., and Erik Buck, L., 196,268-106,824-4,346, 64-35-1 percent.
Rep. Roy Blunt, R., Seventh District, seeking fifth term, defeated James Newberry, D.; Kevin Craig, L., and Steve Alger, C., 210,002-84,322-2,765-1,001, 71-28-1-0 percent. (Blunt is no longer a member of Second BC, Springfield. A request by BP to Blunt’s office about his church membership did not receive a response, but a Missouri Baptist Convention official confirmed Blunt is a member of a Southern Baptist church.)
New Mexico:
Rep. Steve Pearce, R., Second District, seeking second term, Taylor Memorial BC, Hobbs, defeated Gary King, D., 124,120-77,834, 61-39 percent.
North Carolina:
Rep. Charles Taylor, R., 11th District, seeking eighth term, First BC, Brevard, defeated Patricia Keever, D., 152,562-125,652, 55-45 percent.
Oklahoma:
Rep. Frank Lucas, R., Sixth District, seeking seventh term, First BC, Cheyenne, defeated Gregory Wilson, I., 215,488-46,615, 82-18 percent.
South Carolina:
Rep. Henry Brown, R., First District, seeking third term, Cooper River BC, North Charleston, defeated James Dunn, G., 173,977-23,573, 88-12 percent.
Rep. Gresham Barrett, R., Third District, seeking second term, Westminster BC, Westminster, won without opposition.
Tennessee:
Rep. William Jenkins, R., First District, seeking fifth term, First BC, Rogersville, defeated Graham Leonard, D.; Ralph Ball, I., and Michael Peavler, I., 170,766-55,829-3,030-1,585, 74-24-1-1 percent.
Rep. Zach Wamp, R., Third District, seeking sixth term, Red Bank BC, Chattanooga, defeated John Wolfe Jr., D.; June Griffin, I.; Doug Vandagriff, I., and Jean Howard-Hill, I., 161,339-82,338-2,820-1,595-1,405, 65-33-1-1-0 percent.
Texas:
Louis Gohmert Jr., R., defeated Rep. Max Sandlin, D., First District, seeking fifth term, First BC, Marshall, and Dean Tucker, L., 156,978-96,187-2,152, 61-38-1 percent.
Rep. Tom DeLay, R., 22nd District, seeking 11th term, Second BC, Houston, defeated Richard Morrison IV, D.; Michael Fjetland, I., and Tom Morrison, L., 149,901-111,741-5,301-4,872, 55-41-2-2 percent.
Virginia:
Rep. Randy Forbes, R., Fourth District, seeking third term, Great Bridge BC, Chesapeake, defeated Jonathan Menefee, D., 179,371-97,445, 65-35 percent.
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