Frank Lucas (Oklahoma politician)


Frank Dean Lucas is an American politician and farmer serving as the U.S. representative for since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented the 6th district from 1994 to 2003, prior to redistricting.
His district, which is massively rural, stretches from the Panhandle to the fringes of the Tulsa suburbs, covering almost half of the state's land mass. Lucas became the dean of Oklahoma's congressional delegation in 2023 following the retirement of Senator Jim Inhofe.
Prior to his election to the United States House of Representatives, he represented the 59th district of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1988 until his election to Congress in 1994.
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Early life and education

Prior to his election, Lucas worked as a farmer and rancher. He has a Bachelor's of Science from Oklahoma State University.

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Lucas first ran for the Oklahoma House of Representatives 59th district in 1984 as a Republican against the incumbent Democrat, Rollin Reimer, but lost by about 2,000 votes. In 1986, he ran again in a three candidate Republican primary against Cecil E. Preston and Kyle Goerke. He was the Republican nominee, but narrowly lost to Bert Russell by under 100 votes. In 1988, his campaign was supported by $2,500 donation from Henry Bellmon. He defeated Russell in the November election with 56 percent of the vote. He represented the 59th district in the 42nd Oklahoma Legislature from 1989 until the 44th Legislature in 1994. He was succeeded in office by Clay Pope.

U.S. House of Representatives (1994-present)

Tenure

On April 7, 2014, Lucas introduced the Customer Protection and End User Relief Act (H.R. 4413; 113th Congress) into the House. The bill would reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission through 2018 and amend some provisions of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
On January 6, 2021, in the aftermath of the attack on the United States Capitol, Lucas joined 146 other Congressional Republicans in voting against the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
In 2022, Lucas was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.
Lucas has chaired the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee since 2023.

Chair of the Science, Space and Technology committee

After Republicans won the House majority in the 2022 elections, Lucas became chair of the Science, Space and Technology Committee, which has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development, including NASA, NSF, NIST, and the OSTP.
Lucas laid out an ambitious agenda for the committee: independence for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal program to develop unmanned drones, advances in fusion energy, and research money for institutions other than those on the coasts.

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress:

Caucus memberships

Political campaigns

In 1994, 6th district Congressman Glenn English stepped down to become a lobbyist for rural electric cooperatives. Lucas won the Republican nomination for the special election on May 10. He faced Dan Webber, press secretary to U.S. Senator David L. Boren. The 6th was already by far the largest in the state, stretching from the Panhandle to the town of Spencer, in the far northeastern Oklahoma City metropolitan area. But the state legislature had redrawn it so that it included many poor Oklahoma City neighborhoods that had never voted Republican. Lucas scored a major upset, winning by eight percentage points and carrying 18 of the district's 24 counties. Some pundits have seen his victory as an early sign of the Republican Revolution that November, when Republicans took control of the House for the first time in 40 years. Lucas won a full term in November with 70% of the vote. He has been reelected seven times, never with less than 59% of the vote, and was unopposed in 2002 and 2004.
Lucas's district was renumbered as the 3rd after Oklahoma lost a district in the 2000 Census. His already vast district was made even larger. He lost most of his share of Oklahoma City, which was home to 60% of the district's population. He once represented much of the downtown area, including the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. He still represented the part of the city in Canadian County. To make up for this large population loss, the 3rd was pushed farther east, picking up several of Tulsa's western suburbs and some rural areas. As a result, his district now includes 48.5% of the state's landmass, and is nearly as large as the state's other four districts combined. He regained a share of Oklahoma County in the 2020 redistricting.

2014 Republican primary

In the 2014 Republican primary, Lucas won 83% of the vote. 12% went to Robert Hubbard and 5% to Timothy Ray Murray.

2024 Republican primary

Lucas only drew Republican primary challengers in 2024. He defeated Robyn Lynn Carder and Darren Hamilton in the June primary with 74% of the vote.

Electoral history

English resigned mid-term, and Lucas won the special election to succeed him against Democratic opponent Dan Webber.
YearDemocraticVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct
2002'148,20676%Robert T. MurphyIndependent47,88424%
2004'Frank D. Lucas215,51082%Gregory M. WilsonIndependent46,62118%
2006Sue Barton61,74933%Frank D. Lucas128,04267%----
2008Frankie Robbins62,29724%Frank D. Lucas184,30670%Forrest MichaelIndependent17,7567%
2010Frankie Robbins45,68422%Frank D. Lucas161,91578%----
2012Timothy Ray Murray53,47220%Frank D. Lucas201,74475%William M. SandersIndependent12,7875%
2014Frankie Robbins36,27021%Frank D. Lucas133,33579%----
2016Frankie Robbins63,09022%Frank D. Lucas227,52578%----
2018Frankie Robbins61,15226%Frank D. Lucas172,91374%----
2020Zoe Midyett66,50122%Frank D. Lucas242,67778%----
2022 Jeremiah Ross50,35425%Frank D. Lucas147,41874%---
2024'Frank D. Lucas'''Uncontested----

Personal life

Lucas is a fifth-generation Oklahoman; his family has farmed in western Oklahoma for over 100 years. He lives in Cheyenne with his wife, Lynda. They have three children and three grandchildren. In August 2023, Lucas underwent hip surgery after being injured on his ranch.