Interest high ahead of Tuesday’s Oklahoma primary

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Tom Coburn’s early retirement from the U.S. Senate boosted interest in this year’s Oklahoma primary by triggering a Republican primary fight for his seat and opening contests further down the ballot.

Only one sitting member of Congress is unopposed in the coming week, and even Governor Mary Fallin faces a challenger in Tuesday’s GOP primary.

The contests are the first tests for political hopefuls who want to see their name on the November 4th general election ballot. Runoff elections, if needed, will be August 26th.

Congressman James Lankford and former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon are among those fighting for the GOP nomination for Coburn’s seat, and there are wide open races for Lankford’s central Oklahoma seat.

A quarter of the state’s 2 million voters cast ballots in the 2010 primary.