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Political notebook: Abortion shaping up as potential issue in GOP primaries | Government & Politics

The June 30 Republican legislative primaries could turn out to be a referendum on GOP priorities, judging from the challengers who have registered campaign committees ahead of this week’s three-day filing period for county, state and federal offices.

Recent cycles, and especially 2018, saw Republican incumbents thrown out in record numbers, mostly by GOP challengers who promised to make schools and effective government priorities.

This year, the challenges seem to be coming mostly from candidates for whom abortion is at or near the top of the list. In the Tulsa area, these candidates include Angela Strohm, who is trying to win back the House District 69 seat her husband, Chuck Strohm, lost to Sheila Dills in 2018.

Several of the challengers appear to be adherents of the abolitionist movement, which advocates outlawing abortion and ignoring court rulings to the contrary. Movement sympathizers in the Legislature have pushed hard for adoption of such measures in recent years.

In contrast to the past two election cycles, prefiling activity has been relatively sparse. Only about 190 notices of candidacy have been filed with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, and many of those are incumbents. That’s for 101 House and 45 Senate seats, including one vacated mid-term.

Candidates don’t have to register with the Ethics Commission before filing for office, and many don’t. Others register but don’t file, so the preregistrations are only a rough preview.

Filing is Wednesday through Friday at the Capitol for state and federal offices and at local election boards for county offices, although the Oklahoma State Election Board, ok.gov/elections, encourages candidates to file by mail or delivery service. Filings must be received by 5 p.m. Friday.

Meetings and events: Heart of the Party, the Tulsa chapter of the Oklahoma Federation of Democratic Women, canceled both its regular monthly meeting scheduled for Monday and its annual fundraiser scheduled for April 25.

Bottom lines: U.S. Sen. James Lankford has joined the board of directors for Promise Keepers, the Christian men’s organization founded by Bill McCartney, best known as the head football coach at the University of Colorado. … 2nd District Congressman Markwayne Mullin was among the leaders of a House energy group asking the Trump administration for help for the oil and gas industry. The letter also was signed by 3rd District Congressman Frank Lucas. … Lucas wrote a letter signed by three other members of the delegation urging the Federal Reserve to bolster credit access for utilities during the current financial crisis. … The Tulsa Regional Chamber has postponed its annual fly-in to Washington, which had been scheduled for June 2-4. … Tribal leaders from across the nation met by teleconference with Trump administration officials on Thursday to talk about the roughly $10 billion earmarked for Indian nations in the CARES Act. Senate leadership opposed the appropriation, and some fear that the administration will slow-play its distribution. … 5th District Congresswoman Kendra Horn is one of eight finalists for a constituent services award given by the Congressional Management Foundation.

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