Jim Inhofe | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2007 | |
| United States Senator fromOklahoma | |
| In office November 17, 1994 – January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | David Boren |
| Succeeded by | Markwayne Mullin |
| Chair of theSenate Armed Services Committee | |
| In office September 6, 2018[a] – February 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | John McCain |
| Succeeded by | Jack Reed |
| Chair of theSenate Environment Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Barbara Boxer |
| Succeeded by | John Barrasso |
| In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Jeffords |
| Succeeded by | Barbara Boxer |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's1st district | |
| In office January 3, 1987 – November 15, 1994 | |
| Preceded by | James R. Jones |
| Succeeded by | Steve Largent |
| 32ndMayor of Tulsa | |
| In office May 2, 1978 – May 8, 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Robert LaFortune |
| Succeeded by | Terry Young |
| Minority Leader of theOklahoma Senate | |
| In office January 1975 – February 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Donald Ferrell |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Wolfe |
| Member of theOklahoma Senate from the 35th district | |
| In office January 7, 1969 – January 4, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Beauchamp Selman |
| Succeeded by | Warren Green |
| Member of theOklahoma House of Representatives from the 70th district | |
| In office December 29, 1966 – January 7, 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph McGraw |
| Succeeded by | Richard Hancock |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Mountain Inhofe (1934-11-17)November 17, 1934 Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | July 9, 2024(2024-07-09) (aged 89) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingMolly |
| Education | University of Tulsa (BA) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1957–1958 |
| Rank | Specialist 4 |
Inhofe discusses amendments to S.14, the Energy Policy Act of 2003 Recorded June 5, 2003 | |
James Mountain Inhofe (/ˈɪnhɒf/;INN-hoff; November 17, 1934 – July 9, 2024) was an American politician who served as aUnited States senator fromOklahoma from 1994 to 2023. A member of theRepublican Party, he was the longest serving U.S. senator from Oklahoma. He served in various elected offices in the state of Oklahoma for nearly 60 years, between 1966 and 2023.
Born inDes Moines, Iowa, in 1934, Inhofe moved with his parents toTulsa, Oklahoma, in 1942. His father, Perry Inhofe, was an owner of insurance companies and his mother, Blanche Inhofe (née Mountain), was a Tulsasocialite. Jim was a high schooltrack star and graduated fromCentral High School. He went on to briefly attend theUniversity of Colorado before finishing his college degree at theUniversity of Tulsa. He was drafted to theUnited States Army in 1956 and served between 1957 and 1958. He became vice-president of his father's insurance company in 1961 and president after his father's death in 1970.
Inhofe was an elected official representing the Tulsa area for nearly three decades. He represented parts of Tulsa in theOklahoma House of Representatives from 1966 to 1969 and theOklahoma Senate from 1969 to 1977. During his time in the state legislature he was known for feuding with theDemocratic Party's state leadership, particularly GovernorDavid Hall and state treasurerLeo Winters, and spearheading the movement to bring theUSSBatfish to Oklahoma. While a state senator, he unsuccessfully ran forGovernor of Oklahoma in the1974 election and theU.S. House in1976. He was elected to three terms as theMayor of Tulsa, serving between 1978 and 1984. He served in theUnited States House of Representatives representingOklahoma's 1st congressional district from 1987 to 1994; he resigned after his election to the United States Senate.
During his Senate career, Inhofe was known for hisrejection of climate science; on one prominent occasion, he displayed a snowball in winter on the U.S. Senate floor as evidence that Earth was not warming. He was also known for his support of constitutional amendments to bansame-sex marriage, and theInhofe Amendment to make English thenational language of the United States. Inhofe chaired theU.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) and theArmed Services Committee.
James Mountain Inhofe was born inDes Moines, Iowa, on November 17, 1934, the son of Blanche (née Mountain) and Perry Dyson Inhofe.[2] He moved with his family toTulsa, Oklahoma, after his father became president of the National Mutual Casualty company in August 1942.[3] His father, Perry Inhofe, was educated atDuke University and worked as a lawyer, president of multipleinsurance companies, and banker.[4] In 1949, his company, Tri-State, was ordered by theNational Labor Relations Board to cease discouragingunion membership.[5] His father was also active in the TulsaChamber of Commerce andYMCA;[4] and he was the official sponsor of Miss Tulsa andMiss Oklahoma winnerLouise O'Brien in 1950.[6] His mother was a Tulsasocialite and hosted guests such asJohnston Murray.[7]
Inhofe's family had been involved in Oklahoma politics since the 1950s. His father, Perry Inhofe, had served on the executive committee forDemocratic governorRaymond D. Gary's successful1954 campaign.[8] In 1958, his brother, Perry Jr., ran an unsuccessful campaign for theOklahoma House of Representatives as aDemocrat.[9][10]
Inhofe startedkindergarten inDes Moines, Iowa, but moved halfway through the year to Hazel Dell inSpringfield, Illinois. He skipped first grade after the schoolhouse burned down and started second grade after his family moved toTulsa at Barnard Elementary School. As a teenager, he would "hireIndians to pick wild blackberries" and then sell them in his neighborhood. He went on to attend Woodrow Wilson Junior High andTulsa Central High School, where he was a member of his high school'strack team.[11] In 1952, his mile relay quartet team broke a school record with a 3:32.6 time.[12] In January 1953, he was elected treasurer of the Brones social club;[13] he graduated from Central High School later that year.[14] He attended theUniversity of Colorado for three months and worked as a bartender.[11]
In 1956, he received adraft letter from theUnited States Army and he served from 1957 to 1958.[11][15] He attained the rank ofSpecialist 4 and spent most of his service performing quartermaster duties atFort Lee, Virginia.[11] In 1961, his father formed a newlife insurance company, Quaker Insurance, and Inhofe was appointed vice president.[16] On June 17, 1970, Perry Inhofe died of a heart attack;[17] Inhofe became president of Quaker Life Insurance and vice president of Mid-Continental Casualty Co. and Oklahoma Surety Co., while his brother Perry Jr. became president of Mid-Continental and Surety and vice president of Quaker Life.[18] Inhofe and his brother eventually ended up in litigation over the companies that ended in 1990 with Perry paying $3 million to his brother.[19]
Inhofe received aB.A. in economics from theUniversity of Tulsa in 1973.[20] Until his 1994 campaign for the U.S. Senate, his official biographies and news articles about him indicated that he had graduated in 1959.[20] Inhofe initially denied the stories that uncovered the discrepancy,[20] but later acknowledged them.[21] After admitting that the stories were true, Inhofe explained that he had been allowed to take part in graduation ceremonies in 1959 though he was a few credits short of completing his degree, and did not finish his coursework until 1973.[21]
In February 1966, Inhofe launched his first campaign for office as aRepublican; he ran for theOklahoma House of Representatives's 71st district against incumbent representativeWarren Green.[22] He lost the May primary election and then worked on J. Robert Wooten's 1966 lieutenant gubernatorial campaign as theTulsa County campaign chair.[23][24] In November 1966,Joseph McGraw resigned from theOklahoma House of Representatives 70th district to run for newly elected governorDewey Bartlett's former state senate seat, triggering a special election. Inhofe was the first to announced his campaign for McGraw's former house seat.[25] He won theRepublican primary and the general election.[26][27] He was sworn in December 29, 1966.[28] During his time in the State House, Inhofe formed a close friendship withDemocratic RepresentativeDavid Boren.[11]
In the Oklahoma House, Inhofe's first successful measure was a bill to allow forpersonalized license plates in Oklahoma that passed duringhis first legislative session.[29] During his first term, he spoke against federal regulation at theUnited States House Committee on Public Works Sub-committee on Roads and voted in favor of anabortion liberalization law.[30][31] In 1968, he served as the vice-chair of the rules committee for theOklahoma Republican Party state convention.[32] That May, he announced he would not seek re-election to theOklahoma House of Representatives and instead would challengeDemocrat state senatorBeauchamp Selman for his seat in the next election.[33]
After Inhofe had already announced his campaign for theOklahoma Senate,Beauchamp Selman announced he would not seek re-election, creating an open seat for the 1968 election.[34] He faced Madison J. Bowers, who was endorsed by the Political Action Committee of Educators, in theRepublican primary election.[35] He won the primary and facedDemocratic nomineeJerry L. Goodman in the general election.[36] GovernorDewey Bartlett knocked doors with Inhofe during his campaign and he later won the general election.[37][38] After winning the special election, Republican party officials began considering Inhofe as a potential futureU.S. Senate candidate.[39]
In 1969, he was the chairman of the Tulsa County Republican Convention and he supported efforts to liberalizeabortions laws in Oklahoma in the32nd Oklahoma Legislature that passed theOklahoma House of Representatives, but they failed in Senate committee.[40][41] Republican party officials tried to recruit Inhofe to run forTreasurer of Oklahoma in 1970, but he declined to run.[42] In 1970, GovernorDewey Bartlett created the Oklahoma Narcotics and Drug Abuse Council and appointed Inhofe as an inaugural member.[43] That November, he was elected minority caucus chair of theOklahoma Senate for the33rd Oklahoma Legislature.[44] In 1971, Inhofe served as the chairman of theOklahoma Republican Party's State Convention.[45] While Inhofe had initially filed a resolution for Oklahoma to ratify theEqual Rights Amendment in 1972, he retracted his support later that year.[46][47]
In 1969, Inhofe sponsored a successful bill to bring a retiredU.S. Navysubmarine to Oklahoma. Inhofe initially wanted theUSS Piranha forTulsa, but it was determined that theArkansas River was too shallow for the ship to travel that far upriver. The Muskogee City-County Trust Port Authority donated five acres of waterfront property to locate the ship inMuskogee. In September 1970, theUSSBatfish was considered as an alternative and on December 9, 1971, theBatfish was given to theState of Oklahoma. The ship was unofficially opened to the public July 4, 1972, with its official opening onMemorial Day 1973.[48]
In 1972, Inhofe was appointed to serve as co-chair forRichard Nixon's1972 presidential campaign in Oklahoma withRalph Gordon Thompson.[49] During the campaign, Inhofe solicitedBarry Goldwater to write a letter of endorsement for Nixon's campaign in Oklahoma to win overconservative Republicans and he represented Oklahoma at the1972 Republican National Convention.[50][51] He also worked on U.S. senatorDewey Bartlett's campaign as the co-chair forOklahoma's 1st congressional district.[52] In his own district, Inhofe faced noRepublican primary challenge and facedDemocratic nominee Happy Miles in the general election.[53] He won the general election by over 7,000 votes;[54] afterward, he was elected by fellow Republican state senators to serve as the assistant floor leader in the34th Oklahoma Legislature.[55] He was elected minority leader of theOklahoma Senate for the35th Oklahoma Legislature to succeedDonald Ferrell who had lost re-election.[56] In April 1975, he appointed the firstblind page in Oklahoma history: 15 year-old Angela Keele.[57] Later that year, Inhofe andCharles Ford wrote an article criticizingDavid Boren and spending by theDemocratic Party in a party newspaper. Newspapers in the state responded by pointing out Inhofe had supported just as much spending;[58] the article was syndicated by theAssociated Press and Inhofe responded by publishing aTulsa Worldop-ed arguing he had tried to amend bills to remove wasteful spending and was consistently critical of spending.[59][60] He did not seek a third term to theOklahoma Legislature and was succeeded as minority leader by SenatorStephen Wolfe.[61][62]
Inhofe had been floated as a potential gubernatorial candidate since 1972.[63][64] Inhofe was considered a strongRepublican candidate with his only weaknesses being his feuding withLeo Winters and the backlash to theUSS Batfish project.[65] By May 1973, he was openly campaigning, but had yet to officially announce his campaign.[66] In October of that year, he was polling behindDenzil Garrison in the Republican primary 35% to 65%.[67] Inhofe officially launched his campaign in May 1974.[68] The main issue in both theRepublican andDemocratic primary campaigns wascorruption during the term of incumbentDemocratic governorDavid Hall.[69] Inhofe defeated Garrison in the August primary.[70] During the campaign, he lost 57 pounds and was down to 148 pounds.[71]
In a 2011 interview, Inhofe claimed that he and David Boren were both upset with Hall, so the pair decided to both campaign against him; Boren would primary him as a Democrat to weaken his campaign and Inhofe would run as theRepublican challenger and defeat him. However, the plan was thrown off when Boren won the Democratic nomination.[11] In October, then-PresidentGerald Ford visited Oklahoma to campaign for Inhofe.[72][73] A poll later that month byThe Daily Oklahoman showed Boren leading Inhofe 74%–25%.[74] Inhofe ended up losing to Boren by 64%–36%.[75]
In 1976, State SenatorFrank Keating announced his campaign forOklahoma's 1st congressional district and announced that Inhofe would be themaster of ceremonies at his campaign launch announcement;[76] however, Inhofe did not appear at Keating's announcement and instead announced he was considering his own campaign.[77] Inhofe officially announced his candidacy on February 19, 1976.[78] In the Republican primary, he defeated Keating andTulsa Public Schools board member Mary Warner, 67%–25%–8%.[79][80] In a 2011 interview, he credited his primary win to the use of the"Kasten Plan", a system of precinct organization.[11] He also criticized Democratic presidential candidate, and U.S. senator from Oklahoma,Fred Harris during his presidential primary campaign.[81]
During the primary, Inhofe had called for Democratic incumbentJames R. Jones to beexpelled from Congress for his conviction while in office for failing to report campaign contributions.[82][83]Inhofe also criticized a donation Jones had received fromRoss Perot, but he retracted his accusation that the donation affected Jones's voting record after threats from Perot and his lawyers.[84] Inhofe was endorsed by theAmerican Conservative Union andNational Conservative Political Action Committee during the general election.[85][86] Former California governor, and future president,Ronald Reagan endorsed and campaigned with Inhofe.[87] He was also endorsed by PresidentGerald Ford, U.S. representativeJohn Rousselot ofCalifornia, and theTulsa Tribune.[88][89][90] Polling before the election showed Jones leading Inhofe, 44% to 36%.[91] In the general election, Jones won by 54%–45%.[79]
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In January 1978, theTulsa Daily World reportedRepublican party officials were courting Inhofe to run forMayor of Tulsa.[92] He initially denied he would run for any city office and instead insisted he was considering a rematch against Congressman Jones;[93] but, Inhofe announced his mayoral campaign in February.[94] He won the Republican primary with over 92% of the vote, defeating Keith Robinson and Paul Cull.[95] During the first three weeks of the primary, he was injured with a broken leg from atennis injury and could not campaign.[96] In the general election againstRodger Randle, he was endorsed by then-MayorRobert LaFortune and U.S. senatorDewey Bartlett.[97][98] Randle had won theDemocratic primary with a coalition oflabor union and black voters, and Inhofe was supported in the general election by his Republican base,anti-union and anti-black Democrats, and 22% of black voters.[99][100] In April, he was electedmayor of Tulsa, defeating DemocratRodger Randle, 51%–46%.[101] TheTulsa Daily World heralded the race as Inhofe's "first general election victory in six years, and Randle's first election loss since he entered politics in 1970."[102] The race broke then-fundraising records for a Tulsa mayoral election with Randle raising $78,062 and Inhofe raising $48,987. Inhofe's biggest donors were the Metropolitan Builder's Association, oilman Robert L. Parker, and Paul D. Hinch.[103]
On May 2, he was sworn in asMayor of Tulsa.[104] Inhofe's first proclamation as mayor was to celebrateSun Day and supportalternative energy; in the proclamation he said, "I think we're all interested in looking for alternative sources of energy. And of course, we want clean sources."[105] In his first month in office, he decried the city's reliance on federal funding,[106] promised to "seek minorities to fill positions in city government,[107] and nominatedJewish, senior citizen,anti-abortion, andChristian fundamentalist members to the Tulsa Human Rights Commission.[108] In January 1979, Inhofe attended the first swearing in of agovernor of Oklahoma to occur in Tulsa whenGeorge Nigh was sworn in to serve the last five days ofDavid Boren's term after Boren was elected to theU.S. Senate.[109] In February, he appointed Ronald L. Young, the firstAfrican-American to ever serve on the City Commission.[110] In December 1979, Inhofe officially announced his re-election campaign for a second term as mayor.[111] He ran unopposed in the Republican primary and later won the general election, fending offDemocratic nominee Richard Johnson and Independent candidate Robert Murphy.[112][113] He brokeRodger Randle's record fundraising for a Tulsa mayoral race set in the last election by raising $87,667.[114]
In 1982, he was reelected with 59% of the vote.[115] He lost his 1984 re-election campaign toTerry Young.[116]
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In1986, when RepresentativeJames R. Jones decided to retire to run for the U.S. Senate, Inhofe ran for the 1st District and won the Republican primary with 54% of the vote.[117] In the general election, he defeated Democrat Gary Allison 55%–43%.[118] In1988, he won reelection against Democrat Kurt Glassco 53%–47%.[119] In1990, he defeated Glassco again, 56%–44%.[120] After redistricting, the 1st District contained only two counties, all ofTulsa and some parts ofWagoner.[citation needed] In1992, Inhofe was reelected with 53% of the vote.[121]
In 1987, Inhofe voted against PresidentRonald Reagan's budget, which included tax increases and no increase in defense spending.[122]
He first came to national attention in 1993, when he led the effort to reform the House'sdischarge petition rule, which the House leadership had long used to bottle up bills in committee.[11]
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Inhofe was the longest-servingU.S. senator fromOklahoma, having served between 1994 and 2023.[123]
In 1994, incumbent senatorDavid Boren, who had been serving in the Senate since 1979, agreed to become president of theUniversity of Oklahoma and announced he would resign as soon as a successor was elected.[124] A special election was scheduled, in which Inhofedefeated CongressmanDave McCurdy in the general election.[116] 1994 also saw the Republican Party take both houses of the U.S. Congress and the Oklahoma governorship.
Inhofe took office on November 17, giving him more seniority than the incoming class of senators.[11] After serving the last two years of Boren's term, he won his first full termin 1996.[125] He was reelected in2002,[126]2008,[127]2014,[128] and2020.[129]
In the 2008 election cycle, Inhofe's largest campaign donors represented theoil and gas ($446,900 in donations), leadershipPACs ($316,720), andelectric utilities ($221,654) industries/categories.[130][131] In 2010, his largest donors represented the oil and gas ($429,950) and electric ($206,654) utilities.[132]
The primary PACs donating to his campaigns wereAircraft Owners & Pilots Association ($55,869),United Parcel Service ($51,850),National Association of Realtors ($51,700),NRA Political Victory Fund ($51,050), andAmerican Medical Association ($51,000). Additionally, if company-sponsored PACs were combined with employee contributions,Koch Industries would be Inhofe's largest contributor, with $90,950 according toOpenSecrets.[131][133][undue weight? –discuss]
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As a member of the Armed Services Committee, Inhofe was among the panelists questioning witnesses about the 2004Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, saying he was "outraged by the outrage" over the revelations of abuse.[134] Although he believed that the individuals responsible for mistreating prisoners should be punished, he said that the prisoners "are not there for traffic violations ... they're murderers, they'reterrorists, they'reinsurgents".[135] In 2006, Inhofe was one of only nine senators to vote against theDetainee Treatment Act of 2005, which prohibits "cruel,inhuman or degrading" treatment of individuals inU.S. Government custody.[136][better source needed]
When chairman of the Senate Armed Services CommitteeJohn McCain was absent seeking medical treatment for brain cancer, Inhofe became acting chairman of the committee. During this time, Inhofe helped secure the passage of the record $716 billionNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.[137] McCain died in August 2018, and Inhofe lauded him as his "hero".Inhofe also said that McCain was "partially to blame for" the White House's controversial decision to raise flags back to full mast after less than two days, as McCain previously "disagreed with the President in certain areas and wasn't too courteous about it".[138]
On March 6, 2019, Inhofe said he intended to put language in the next defense authorization act to reinforcePresident Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from theIran nuclear agreement and reintroduce severe sanctions on Tehran.[139]
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During the115th,116th, and117th Congresses, Inhofe was a member of the following committees:
Caucus memberships
On July 15, 2021, Inhofe toldTulsa World he planned to retire at the end of his current term, in 2027.[140] In February 2022,The New York Times reported that Inhofe was planning to resign at the end of the 117th Congress.[141] A special election for Inhofe's replacement was held in 2022 while he remained in office.[142] He endorsed his former chief of staff, Luke Holland, in the special election.[143]Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district CongressmanMarkwayne Mullin won theRepublican primary and the special election.[144] Inhofe resigned on January 3, 2023.[15] It was reported in February 2023 that the primary reason for Inhofe's retirement was related to him suffering symptoms oflong COVID, which had severely limited his capacity to do day-to-day activities, after an initial infection he had described as "very mild".[145]
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Inhofe was ranked the mostconservative member of Congress on the 2017 GovTrack report card.[146] He received the same ranking for 2018.[147] For 2019, he was ranked as the fifth-most conservative member of the U.S. Senate with a score of 0.91 out of 1, behindMarsha Blackburn (R-TN),Joni Ernst (R-IA),Mike Braun (R-IN), andTed Cruz (R-TX).[148]
Inhofe was best known for his denial ofclimate change, which he called a "hoax", and his defense of theoil industry, a major industry in Oklahoma.[116][19] In December 1997, Inhofe called theKyoto Protocol, an international treaty to reducegreenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, a "political, economic, and national security fiasco."[149]
Before the Republicans regained control of the Senate in the November 2002 elections, Inhofe had compared theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency to aGestapo bureaucracy,[150][151] and EPA AdministratorCarol Browner toTokyo Rose.[152] In January 2003, he became Chair of theSenate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and continued challenging mainstream science in favor of what he called "sound science", in accordance with theLuntz memo.[151]
Beginning in 2003, when he was first elected Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Inhofe was the foremost Republican promotingclimate change denial. He famously claimed in the Senate that global warming is ahoax, invited contrarians to testify in Committee hearings, and spread his views via the Committee website run byMarc Morano as well as through his access to conservative media.[153][154] In 2012, Inhofe'sThe Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future was published byWorldNetDaily Books, presenting hisglobal warming conspiracy theory.[155] He said that, because "God's still up there", the "arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous",[156][157][158] but also that he appreciated that this argument was unpersuasive, and that he "never pointed toScriptures in a debate, because I know this would discredit me."
As Environment and Public Works chairman, Inhofe gave a two-hour Senate floor speech on July 28, 2003, in the context of discussions on theMcCain-Lieberman Bill.[159] He said he was "going to expose the most powerful, most highly financed lobby in Washington, the far left environmental extremists", and laid out in detail his opposition toattribution of recent climate change to humans, using the word "hoax" four times, including the statement that he had "offered compelling evidence that catastrophic global warming is a hoax" and his conclusion that "manmade global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people".[160][161] He supported what he called "sound science", citing contrarian scientists such asPatrick Michaels,Fred Singer,Richard Lindzen, andSallie Baliunas as well as some mainstream scientists. Two of these,Tom Wigley andStephen Schneider, later issued statements that Inhofe had misrepresented their work.[161][162]
On July 29, the day after his Senate speech, Inhofe chaired an Environment and Public Works hearing with contrarian views represented by Baliunas andDavid Legates, and praised their "1,000-year climate study", then involved in theSoon and Baliunas controversy, as "a powerful new work of science". Against them,Michael E. Mann defended mainstream science and specifically his work on reconstructions (thehockey stick graph) that they and theBush administration disputed.[159][163] During the hearing SenatorJim Jeffords read out an email fromHans von Storch saying he had resigned as editor-in-chief of the journal that published the Soon and Baliunas paper, as the peer review had "failed to detect significant methodological flaws in the paper" and the critique by Mann and colleagues was valid.[163][164]
In a continuation of these themes, Inhofe had a 20-page brochure published under theSeal of the United States Senate reiterating his "hoax" statement and comparing theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to a "Soviet style trial". In a section headed "The IPCC Plays Hockey" he attacked what he called "Mann's flawed, limited research."[165][166] The brochure restated themes from Inhofe's Senate speech, and in December 2003 he distributed copies of it inMilan at a meeting about theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, where he met "green activists" with posters quoting him as saying that global warming "is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people". He signed a poster for them,[151] and thanked them for quoting him correctly. In an October 2004 Senate speech he said, "Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. It was true when I said it before, and it remains true today. Perhaps what has made this hoax so effective is that we hear over and over that the science is settled and there is a consensus that, unless we fundamentally change our way of life by limitinggreenhouse gas emissions, we will cause catastrophic global warming. This is simply a false statement."[165][167] In January 2005 Inhofe toldBloomberg News that global warming was "the second-largest hoax ever played on the American people, after theseparation of church and state", and thatcarbon dioxide would not be restricted by theClear Skies Act of 2003.[168][169][170] In a Senate Floor "update", he extended his argument against Mann's work by extensively citingMichael Crichton's fictional thrillerState of Fear, mistakenly describing Crichton as a "scientist".[171][172] On August 28, 2005, at Inhofe's invitation, Crichton appeared as an expert witness at a hearing on climate change, disputing Mann's work.[165]
In his 2006 bookThe Republican War on Science,Chris Mooney wrote that Inhofe "politicizes and misuses thescience of climate change".[173]
During the2006 North American heat wave, Inhofe said that the environmentalist movement reminded him of "theThird Reich, theBig Lie": "You say something over and over and over and over again, and people will believe it, and that's their strategy."[170][174]In a September 2006 Senate speech Inhofe argued that the threat of global warming was exaggerated by "the media,Hollywoodelites and our pop culture". He said that in the 1960s the media had switched from warning of global warming to warning ofglobal cooling and a comingice age, then in the 1970s had returned to warming to promote "climate change fears".[175] In February 2007 he toldFox News that mainstream science increasingly attributed climate change to natural causes, and only "those individuals on the far left, such as Hollywood liberals and the United Nations", disagreed.[176]
In 2006, Inhofe introduced Senate Amendment 4682 withKit Bond (R-MO), which would have modified oversight responsibility of theArmy Corps of Engineers. TheLeague of Conservation Voters, an environmentalist group, said analyses for corps projects "have been manipulated to favor large-scale projects that harm the environment."[177] During the109th Congress, Inhofe voted to increaseoffshore oil drilling, to include provisions for drilling in theArctic National Wildlife Refuge in the House Budget Amendment, and to deny funding for both low-income energy assistance and environmental stewardship, citing heavy costs and unproven programs.[177]
In May 2009, Inhofe gave support to the idea thatblack carbon is a significant contributor to global warming.[178]
Inhofe received money from thefossil fuel industry. For example: "Exxon's beneficiaries in Congress include the Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe, who called global warming a hoax, and who has received $20,500 since 2007, according to the Dirty Energy Money database maintained by Oil Change International."[179][180]
On November 23, 2009, as theClimatic Research Unit email controversy emerged, Inhofe said the emails confirmed his view that scientists were "cooking the science".[176][181] On December 7 on theCNN programThe Situation Room, Inhofe said that the emails showed that the science behind climate change "has been pretty well debunked"; thefact checking organizationPolitiFact concluded that Inhofe's statement was false.[182] On the same day, Inhofe said he would lead a three-man "truth squad" consisting of himself and fellow senatorsRoger Wicker andJohn Barrasso to the2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference inCopenhagen. Inhofe was unable to secure meetings with any negotiators or delegations to the conference and only met with a small group of reporters.[183][184][185][186] The minority group of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works prepared a report on "the CRU Controversy", published in February 2010, which listed as "Key Players" 17 scientists including Mann andPhil Jones. Inhofe said it showed that the controversy was "about unethical and potentially illegal behavior by some of the world's leading climate scientists."[187][188] On May 26 Inhofe formally requested that theInspector General of theUnited States Department of Commerce investigate how theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had dealt with the emails, and whether the emails showed any wrongdoing; it found no major issues or inappropriate actions.[189][190]
In July 2010 Inhofe said, "I don't think that anyone disagrees with the fact that we actually are in a cold period that started about nine years ago. Now, that's not me talking, those are the scientists that say that." TheUnion of Concerned Scientists said that Inhofe was wrong, pointing to a NOAA report indicating that the summer of 2010 had so far been the hottest on record since 1880. Inhofe added, "People on the other side of this argument back in January, they said, 'Inhofe, it has nothing to do with today's or this month or next month. We're looking at a long period of time. We go into twenty year periods.'"[191][192][193]
During a House committee hearing in 2011, Inhofe testified, "I have to admit—and, you know, confession is good for the soul ... I, too, once thought that catastrophic global warming was caused by anthropogenic gases—because everyone said it was."[194] Under questioning from committee memberJay Inslee, Inhofe dismissed the notion that he was less knowledgeable than climate scientists, saying that he'd already given "five speeches on the science."[194]
On January 21, 2015, Inhofe returned to chairing the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works as part of a new Republican majority in the Senate. In response to NOAA and NASA reports that 2014 had been the warmest year globally in thetemperature record, he said, "we had the coldest in the western hemisphere in the same time frame", and attributed changes to a 30-year cycle, not human activities.[198] In a debate on the same day about a bill for theKeystone XL pipeline, Inhofe endorsed an amendment proposed by SenatorSheldon Whitehouse, "Climate change is real and not a hoax", which passed 98–1. Inhofe clarified his view that "Climate is changing and climate has always changed and always will. There is archaeological evidence of that, there is biblical evidence of that, there is historical evidence of that", but added, "there are some people who are so arrogant to think they are so powerful they can change climate."[199]
On February 26, 2015, Inhofe brought a snowball to the Senate floor and tossed it before delivering remarks in which he said that environmentalists keep talking about global warming even though it keeps getting cold.[200]
On March 19, 2015, Inhofe introduced S.828, "The Fracturing Regulations are Effective in State Hands (FRESH) Act." The bill would transfer regulatory power over hydraulic fracturing from the federal government to state governments. In his announcement of the bill, Inhofe said that hydraulic fracturing had never contaminated ground water in Oklahoma.[201] The U.S. senators from seven states (Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Dakota and Texas) cosponsored the bill.[202]
Inhofe co-authored and was one of 22 senators to sign a letter[203] to PresidentDonald Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from theParis Agreement. According toOpenSecrets, Inhofe had received over $529,000 from the oil and gas industry since 2012.[204]
In October 2017, Inhofe co-sponsored theIsrael Anti-Boycott Act (S. 720), which would have made it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel andIsraeli settlements in the occupiedPalestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government.[205][206]
Inhofe supported thePolisario Front and traveled toAlgeria many times to meet with its leaders.[207][208] He urged Morocco to hold a referendum on independence forWestern Sahara. In 2017, Inhofe blocked the Trump administration's nomination ofJ. Peter Pham forAssistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, citing a disagreement over Western Sahara.[209]
After the December 2020Israel–Morocco normalization agreement, Inhofe sharply criticized the Trump administration for recognizingMorocco's claim over Western Sahara, calling the decision "shocking and deeply disappointing" and adding that he was "saddened that the rights of the Western Sahara people have been traded away".[210]
Inhofe opposed the2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan under President Biden, saying that Biden should maintain "a relatively small troop presence until the conditions outlined in the 2020 U.S.-Taliban Agreement are fully implemented."[211]
Inhofe wrote theInhofe Amendment to theComprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which was debated in Congress in May 2006. The amendment would make English thenational language of the United States and require that new citizens take an English proficiency test. The amendment was passed on May 18, 2006, with 32Democrats, oneindependent, and oneRepublican dissenting. The measure had 11 cosponsors, including one Democrat.[212]
In the aftermath of the2017 Las Vegas shooting, Inhofe blamed the "culture ofsanctuary cities" for the shootings.[213]
Inhofe was generally seen as overtly hostile byLGBT advocacy groups, earning a 0% in every one of his terms on theHuman Rights Campaign's position scorecard.[214] Inhofe was in favor of a constitutional amendment banningsame-sex marriage, against addingsexual orientation to the definition ofhate crimes, and voted against prohibiting job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.[215] In 2008, Inhofe said his office "does not hire openly gay staffers due to the possibility of a conflict of agenda."[216]
Inhofe campaigned for his Senate seat in 1994 using the phrase "God, guns, and gays."[217][218] In 2008, his campaign was noted by theAssociated Press for running an ad with "anti-gay overtones" featuring a wedding cake with two male figures on top, fading into his opponent's face.[219]
In 1999, along with Republican colleaguesTim Hutchinson andBob Smith, and Republican Senate Majority LeaderTrent Lott, Inhofe stalled the nomination ofJames Hormel, a gay man, as US Ambassador to Luxembourg for over 20 months specifically because of Hormel's sexual orientation.[220] President Bill Clinton eventually appointed him in a recess appointment, making him the United States' first openly gay ambassador in June 1999, and angering Inhofe, who held up seven more Clinton appointees in retaliation.[221][222]
In 2015, Inhofe condemned the Supreme Court ruling inObergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the Constitution.[223]
In 1995, Inhofe voted to ban affirmative action hiring with federal funds.[224] In 1997, he voted to end special funding for minority- and women-owned businesses. The bill he voted for would have abolished a program that helps businesses owned by women and minorities to compete for federally funded transportation; it did not pass.[225] The next year, Inhofe voted to repeal the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program,[226] which is designed to "remedy ongoing discrimination and the continuing effects of past discrimination in federally-assisted highway, transit, airport, and highway safety financial assistance transportation contracting markets nationwide" by allocating 10% of highway funds to benefit the business enterprises of racial minorities and women.[227]
Overall, in 2002, theAmerican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) rated Inhofe at 20%, indicating that he held an anti-racial civil rights record.[228] Four years later, on December 31, 2006, theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) rated Inhofe at 7%, indicating that he held an anti-civil rights and anti-affirmative action record.[229]
In 2001, Inhofe voted to loosen restrictions on cell phone wiretapping.[230] The bill, which passed, removed the requirement that a person or party implementing an order to wiretap a private citizen's cellphone must ascertain that the target of the surveillance is present in the house or using the phone that has been tapped.[231]
In 1995, Inhofe co-sponsored a constitutional amendment to theU.S. Constitution that would give Congress and individual U.S. states the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag. The bill's primary sponsor wasOrrin Hatch (R-UT).[232]
Inhofe, an initial sponsor of SenatorJim Webb'sPost-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, subsequently withdrew support for this bill to support S. 2938, a competing bill that would have provided benefits beyond those offered in Webb's bill.[233] But he voted to enact Webb's legislation in June 2008.[234]
Inhofe agreed to support legislation allowing military mental health specialists to talk with veterans about private firearms in an effort to reduce suicides.[235]
Trained by the U.S. Navy, Inhofe was one of the few members of Congress holding a Commercial Airman certificate. In 1994, when he first ran for the U.S. Senate, he used his plane as a daily campaign vehicle to travel throughout Oklahoma and visit almost every town in the state.[236] He was influential in Senate and Congressional debates involving aircraft regulation.[237] In 2012, he authored the Pilot's Bill of Rights bill.[238]
Inhofe said that he made over 140 trips to Africa over about 20 years and helped to getUnited States Africa Command established.[239] He made multiple foreign trips, especially to Africa, on missions that he described as "aJesus thing" and that were paid for by the U.S. government. He used these trips for activities on behalf ofThe Fellowship, aChristian organization.[240] Inhofe said that his trips included some governmental work but also involved "the political philosophy of Jesus, something that had been put together byDoug Coe, the leader of The Fellowship ... It's all scripturally based." Inhofe used his access as a senator to pursue religious goals.[241]
Inhofe consistently voted against federal disaster relief, most notably in the case of relief for the 24 states affected byHurricane Sandy,[242] but argued for and voted for federal aid when natural disasters hit Oklahoma.[243][19] In defense of his decision to vote against a relief fund for Sandy but not in Oklahoma after tornadoes ravaged it inMay 2013, he claimed the situations were "totally different", in that the Sandy funding involved "Everybody getting in and exploiting the tragedy that took place. That won't happen in Oklahoma."[244] Inhofe pointedly did not thank President Obama for his attention to the tragedy in his state, so as to not be compared toChris Christie.[245]
Inhofe was instrumental in securing millions of dollars of federal funds to clean up contamination at a former mining hub in northeast Oklahoma after the affected site had spent decades on the Environmental Protection Agency Superfund list. He supported participation in the massive federal government buyout program for theTar Creek Superfund site that purchased homes and businesses within a 40-square-mile (104-square-kilometer) region where for decades, children consistently tested positive for dangerous levels of lead in their blood.[246]
In April 2021, Inhofe expressed support for bringing backearmarks to theUnited States Senate.[247] TheTulsa World credited Inhofe for how he "relentlessly pursued" federal investment for highways, aviation, and military bases in the state.[116]
In 2005, Inhofe included a midnight rider in that year'stransportation bill that preventedfederally recognized tribes in Oklahoma from administeringEnvironmental Protection Agency regulations, a practice allowed by federal law in other states.[248]
On February 12, 1999, Inhofe was one of 50 senators to vote toconvict and remove Bill Clinton from office.[249] On February 5, 2020, he voted toacquit Donald Trump,[250] and on February 13, 2021, he voted toacquit Trump for the second time.[251]
Early during theRepublican Party presidential primaries in 2016, Inhofe endorsed fellow RepublicanJohn Kasich.[252] During Donald Trump's presidency, he voted in line with Trump's position 94.2% of the time.[253]
In December 2018, Inhofe bought $50,000 to $100,000 worth of stock inRaytheon, a major defense contractor that has billions of dollars' worth of contracts with the Pentagon. The week before, he had successfully lobbied the Trump administration to increase military spending. Ethics watchdogs said the purchase raised conflict of interest concerns, and noted that members of Congress are not allowed to purchase stocks on the basis of information that is not publicly available. Inhofe sold the stock shortly after reporters asked him about the purchase. He said the purchase was made by a third-party adviser who manages Inhofe's investments on his behalf.[254]
| This sectionneeds expansion with: pre-2016 Supreme Court nominations. You can help bymaking an edit requestadding to it.(March 2023) |
In March 2016, around seven months before the next presidential election, Inhofe argued that the Senate should not consider Obama's Supreme Court nominee because "we must let the people decide the Supreme Court's future" via the presidential election.[255] In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Inhofe supported an immediate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg's death.
Inhofe also voted to confirmNeil Gorsuch andBrett Kavanaugh (Trump's other two Supreme Court nominations) while voting againstSonia Sotomayor andElena Kagan (Obama's two Supreme Court nominations). All four were successful.
Inhofe refused to support delaying the certification of the2020 United States presidential election and said doing so would have violated his oath of office.[116]
On May 28, 2021, Inhofe abstained from voting on the creation of an independent commission to investigate theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack.[256]
On December 19, 1959, Inhofe married Kay Kirkpatrick, with whom he had four children.[257] His mother, Blanche M. Inhofe, died in 1975.[258] On November 10, 2013, one of Inhofe's sons, Perry Inhofe, died in a plane crash inOwasso, Oklahoma, flying alone for the first time since training in a newly acquiredMitsubishi MU-2.[259]Molly Rapert, an academic, is Inhofe's daughter.[260]
Inhofe had his pilot's license since he was 28;[11] he flew aVan's Aircraft RV-8. He attended theEAA AirVenture Oshkosh for 20 years; in 2021, he said, "I've slept in the same tent for 20 years. If you're not sleeping in a tent, it's not like being at Oshkosh."[261] Inhofe had to emergency-land his plane multiple times throughout his career.[262]
He was the first recipient of the U.S. Air Force Academy's Character and Leadership Award for his character and leadership in public service.[263]
Towards the end of his life, Inhofe had symptoms of long COVID, which severely limited his capacity to do day-to-day activities.[145]
Inhofe died from complications of a stroke at a hospital in Tulsa, on July 9, 2024, at the age of 89.[116][19]
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Warren Green (incumbent) | 1,396 | 54.57% | |
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 1,162 | 45.43% | |
| Total votes | 2,558 | 100.00% | ||
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 668 | 54.66% | |
| Republican | Richard Hancock | 544 | 44.52% | |
| Republican | J. C. Gibson | 10 | 0.82% | |
| Total votes | 1,222 | 100.00% | ||
| General election | ||||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 1,917 | 81.33% | |
| Democratic | Patricia Anderson | 440 | 18.67% | |
| Total votes | 2,357 | 100.00% | ||
| This sectionneeds expansion with: 1968 general election results. You can help bymaking an edit requestadding to it.(February 2023) |
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 1,517 | 79.34% | |
| Republican | Madison Bowers | 395 | 20.66% | |
| Total votes | 1,912 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 13,749 | 68.47% | |
| Democratic | Happy Miles | 6,330 | 31.53% | |
| Total votes | 20,079 | 100.00% | ||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 88,594 | 58.76 | ||
| Republican | Denzil Garrison | 62,188 | 41.24 | ||
| Total votes | 150,782 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Democratic | David Boren | 514,389 | 63.91 | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 290,459 | 36.09 | ||
| Total votes | 804,848 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 17,707 | 66.7% | ||
| Republican | Frank Keating | 6,751 | 25.4% | ||
| Republican | Mary Warner | 2,057 | 7.7% | ||
| Total votes | 26,515 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Democratic | James R. Jones | 100,945 | 53.9% | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 84,374 | 45.1% | ||
| independent (politician) | W. D. Mackintosh | 1,725 | 0.9% | ||
| Total votes | 187,044 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 15,317 | 92.00% | |
| Republican | Keith Robinson | 910 | 5.47% | |
| Republican | Paul Cull | 422 | 2.53% | |
| Total votes | 16,649 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 39,236 | 51.05% | ||
| Democratic | Rodger Randle | 35,213 | 45.81% | ||
| independent (politician) | Jim Primdahl, Jr. | 2,412 | 3.14% | ||
| Total votes | 76,861 | 100.00% | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 46,772 | 62.02% | ||
| Democratic | Richard Johnson | 23,971 | 31.79% | ||
| independent (politician) | Jim Primdahl, Jr. | 4,670 | 6.19% | ||
| Total votes | 75,413 | 100.00% | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 43,463 | 59.29% | ||
| Democratic | Tom Seymour | 27,177 | 37.07% | ||
| independent (politician) | Robert T. Murphy | 2,668 | 3.64% | ||
| Total votes | 73,308 | 100.00% | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| 1984 Tulsa Mayoral Election Results[266] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
| Terry Young | Democratic Party | 48,450 | 50.49% | |
| Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | Republican Party | 47,526 | 49.51% | |
| Total Votes | 95,976 | 100% | ||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 19,575 | 54.21 | ||
| Republican | Bill Colvert | 10,577 | 29.29 | ||
| Republican | Joan Hastings | 5,956 | 16.49 | ||
| Total votes | 36,108 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 78,919 | 54.79 | ||
| Democratic | Gary D. Allison | 61,663 | 42.81 | ||
| independent (politician) | Carl E. McCullough, Jr. | 3,455 | 2.40 | ||
| Total votes | 144,037 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 103,458 | 52.63 | ||
| Democratic | Kurt Glassco | 93,101 | 47.37 | ||
| Total votes | 196,559 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 75,618 | 55.96 | ||
| Democratic | Kurt Glassco | 59,521 | 44.04 | ||
| Total votes | 135,139 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 36,354 | 67.71 | ||
| Republican | Richard L. Bunn | 17,339 | 32.29 | ||
| Total votes | 53,693 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 119,211 | 52.79 | ||
| Democratic | John Selph | 106,619 | 47.21 | ||
| Total votes | 225,830 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 159,001 | 77.80 | ||
| Republican | Tony Caldwell | 45,359 | 22.20 | ||
| Total votes | 204,360 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe | 542,390 | 55.21 | ||
| Democratic | Dave McCurdy | 392,488 | 40.56 | ||
| Independent | Danny Corn | 47,552 | 4.84 | ||
| Total votes | 982,430 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | |||||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 116,241 | 75.34 | ||
| Republican | Dan Lowe | 38,044 | 24.66 | ||
| Total votes | 154,285 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 670,610 | 56.68 | ||
| Democratic | Jim Boren | 474,162 | 40.08 | ||
| Independent | Bill Maguire | 15,092 | 1.28 | ||
| Libertarian | Agnes Marie Regier | 14,595 | 1.23 | ||
| Independent | Chris Nedbalek | 8,691 | 0.73 | ||
| Total votes | 1,183,150 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 583,579 | 57.30 | ||
| Democratic | David Walters | 369,789 | 36.31 | ||
| Independent | James Germalic | 65,056 | 6.39 | ||
| Total votes | 1,018,424 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 116,371 | 84.18 | ||
| Republican | Evelyn L. Rogers | 10,770 | 7.79 | ||
| Republican | Ted Ryals | 7,306 | 5.28 | ||
| Republican | Dennis Lopez | 3,800 | 2.75 | ||
| Total votes | 138,247 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 763,375 | 56.68 | ||
| Democratic | Andrew Rice | 527,736 | 39.18 | ||
| Independent | Stephen P. Wallace | 55,708 | 4.14 | ||
| Total votes | 1,346,819 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 231,291 | 87.68 | ||
| Republican | Evelyn Rogers | 11,960 | 4.53 | ||
| Republican | Erick Paul Wyatt | 11,713 | 4.44 | ||
| Republican | Rob Moye | 4,846 | 1.84 | ||
| Republican | Jean McBride-Samuels | 3,965 | 1.50 | ||
| Total votes | 263,775 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 558,166 | 68.01 | ||
| Democratic | Matt Silverstein | 234,307 | 28.55 | ||
| Independent | Joan Farr | 10,554 | 1.29 | ||
| Independent | Ray Woods | 9,913 | 1.21 | ||
| Independent | Aaron DeLozier | 7,793 | 0.95 | ||
| Total votes | 820,733 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 277,868 | 74.05 | ||
| Republican | JJ Stitt | 57,433 | 15.31 | ||
| Republican | John Tompkins | 23,563 | 6.28 | ||
| Republican | Neil Mavis | 16,363 | 4.36 | ||
| Total votes | 375,227 | 100.00 | |||
| General election | |||||
| Republican | Jim Inhofe (incumbent) | 979,140 | 62.91 | ||
| Democratic | Abby Broyles | 509,763 | 32.75 | ||
| Libertarian | Robert Murphy | 34,435 | 2.21 | ||
| Independent | Joan Farr | 21,652 | 1.39 | ||
| Independent | J.D. Nesbit | 11,371 | 0.73 | ||
| Total votes | 1,556,361 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
Please join me on April 4th and vote for Jim Inhofe. Thank you, Dewey Bartlett
The single most prominent Republican when it comes to climate change denial is Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, famous for claiming in a Senate speech that global warming is 'the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.'
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Oklahoma 1974 | Succeeded by Ron Shotts |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. senator fromOklahoma (Class 2) 1994,1996,2002,2008,2014,2020 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Mayor of Tulsa 1978–1984 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's 1st congressional district 1987–1994 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Oklahoma 1994–2023 Served alongside:Don Nickles,Tom Coburn,James Lankford | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Environment Committee 2003–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Ranking Member of theSenate Environment Committee 2007–2013 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Armed Services Committee 2013–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Environment Committee 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Armed Services Committee 2018–2021 Acting: 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theSenate Armed Services Committee 2021–2023 | Succeeded by |
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services | ||
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| Military Affairs Committee (1816–1947) |  | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee (1947–present) | ||
| Public Buildings (1838–1857) | | |
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| Public Buildings and Grounds (1857–1947) | ||
| Public Works (1947–1977) | ||
| Environment and Public Works (1977–present) | ||
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| At-large | ||
| Territory | ||
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| Other | |
