Brad Henry was first elected governor in 2002, upsetting Steve Largent, a former pro football star and congressman. In the 2002 Democratic primary for governor, Henry got only 28 percent of the vote in a four-candidate field, while businessman Vince Orza got 44 percent. Henry was able to pull off an upset in a runoff, though, getting 52 percent of the vote to Orza's 48 percent.

In the 2006 primary, Henry drew a token opponent and got 86 percent of the vote. He was then easily re-elected in the general election, beating Republican Ernest Istook with 66.5 percent of the vote.

Henry was elected to the state Senate in 1992 and was re-elected to two four-year terms.

(Last updated by Ron Jenkins on April 24, 2009.)

Tom Coburn first was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004, defeating Democrat Brad Carson with 53 percent of the vote.

He won his first race for Congress in 1994 by defeating Democrat Virgil Cooper in a close election.

In 1996, Coburn ran for re-election and was challenged by Democrat Glen Johnson, speaker of the state House of Representatives. Coburn won by 22,000 votes out of 202,000 cast in the heavily Democratic district.

Two years later, he won a third term over businessman Kent Pharoah with 58 percent.

(Last updated by Ron Jenkins on March 23, 2009.)

Jim Inhofe was first elected in 1994 to fill the unexpired term of Democratic Sen. David Boren, who became president of the University of Oklahoma.

In that election, Inhofe defeated Democratic Rep. David McCurdy after a bruising campaign. He received 55 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 1996 with 57 percent of the vote against Jim Boren and got 57 percent against former Gov. David Walters in his 2002 re-election race.

Inhofe was successful in his 2008 bid for a third full term, winning re-election against Democratic challenger Andrew Rice with 57 percent of the vote.

Inhofe was elected to the state House in 1966 and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1974, losing to David Boren in the general election. After losing a U.S. House race in 1976, he was elected to three terms as Tulsa mayor. He was elected to the House in 1986, serving until he ran for the Senate.

(Last updated by Ron Jenkins on March 23, 2009.)