Longtime GOP Senator to Announce He’s Stepping Down, Triggering a Special Election

Sen. Jim Inhofe, who has been representing Oklahoma since 1994, intends to announce that he’s stepping down at the end of the year. This triggers a special election to select someone to serve the remaining four years of his term.

The Oklahoma Republican does plan to serve until the end of the year, but this will reportedly ignite quite a bonfire among Oklahoma Republicans vying to clinch a senate seat. The good news is that Democrats are not going to get this seat. The bad news is that we have a special election that could get nasty and divert resources from other elections and policy battles.