Frank Dean Lucas (born January 6, 1960) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma’s 3rd congressional district since 2003, having previously represented the 6th district from 1994 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Lucas has chaired the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology since 2023. His district, numbered as the 6th from 1994 to 2003, is Oklahoma’s largest congressional district and one of the largest in the nation that does not cover an entire state. It covers 34,088.49 square miles and stretches from the Panhandle to the fringes of the Tulsa suburbs, covering almost half of the state’s land mass. Lucas is the dean of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation.

United States House of Representatives

Tenure

On April 7, 2014, Lucas introduced the Customer Protection and End User Relief Act (H.R. 4413; 113th Congress) into the House.[1] 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.[2][3]

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.[4][5]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Political campaigns

Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas speaks at a town hall meeting held in the Pioneer Technology Center in Ponca City, Oklahoma on September 26, 2011.

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Lucas first ran for the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1984 as a Republican against the incumbent Democrat, narrowly losing. A second attempt in 1986 also fell short, but he won in 1988. He lost in 1990 after the legislature made his district somewhat friendlier to Democrats, but he returned in 1992.

U. S. House of Representatives

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 represents 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 (including a small portion of Tulsa itself) 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.

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

Frank Lucas (116th Congress)

Electoral history

Oklahoma’s 6th congressional district: Results 1992–2000[10]
YearDemocraticVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct
1992Glenn English *134,73468%Bob Anthony64,06832%
1994Jeffrey S. Tollett45,39930%Frank D. Lucas106,96170%
1996Paul M. Barby64,17336%Frank D. Lucas113,49964%
1998Paul M. Barby43,55533%Frank D. Lucas85,26165%Ralph B. Finkle, Jr.Independent2,4552%
2000Randy Beutler63,10639%Frank D. Lucas95,63559%Joseph V. CristianoLibertarian2,4352%

* English resigned mid-term, and Lucas won the special election to succeed him against Democratic opponent Dan Webber.

Oklahoma’s 3rd congressional district: Results 2002–2022[10]
YearDemocraticVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct
2002(no candidate)Frank D. Lucas148,20676%Robert T. MurphyIndependent47,88424%
2004(no candidate)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%
2022Jeremiah Ross50,35425%Frank D. Lucas147,41874%

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.[11] [12] In August 2023, Lucas underwent hip surgery after being injured while riding horses on his ranch. [13]

References

  1. ^ “H.R. 4413 – All Actions”. United States Congress. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  2. ^ Pagliocca, Theresa (April 14, 2014). “Customer Protection and End-User Relief Act (H.R. 4413) Receives House Committee Approval”. DTCC. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  3. ^ “CBO – H.R. 4413”. Congressional Budget Office. May 19, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  4. ^ “House passes antitrust bill that hikes M&A fees as larger efforts targeting tech have stalled”. CNBC. September 29, 2022.
  5. ^ “H.R. 3843: Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022 — House Vote #460 — Sep 29, 2022”.
  6. ^ “Members”. Congressional Western Caucus. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  7. ^ Ponca City News. “Congressman Lucas holds town hall at Standing Bear” February 17, 2023.
  8. ^ Roll Call. “At ‘fun’ House Science, Lucas sees CHIPS aid as potential model for AI, quantum computing” January 31, 2023.
  9. ^ “Oklahoma – Summary Vote Results June 25, 2014 – 05:28PM ET” Associated Press
  10. ^ a b “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present”. US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  11. ^ “About Frank”.
  12. ^ Krehbiel, Randy (July 2, 2023). “D.C. Digest: Oklahoma congressional delegation sings high court’s praises”. Tulsa World. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  13. ^ Nazzaro, Miranda (August 7, 2023). “Oklahoma lawmaker hospitalized after accident at ranch”. The Hill. Retrieved August 9, 2023.

External links

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by

 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma’s 6th congressional district
1994–2003		Constituency abolished
Preceded by

 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma’s 3rd congressional district
2003–present		Incumbent
Preceded by

 Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee
2009–2011		Succeeded by

Preceded by

Collin Peterson
 Chair of the House Agriculture Committee
2011–2015		Succeeded by

Preceded by

 Ranking Member of the House Science Committee
2019–2023		Succeeded by

Chair of the House Science Committee
2023–present		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by

 United States representatives by seniority
18th		Succeeded by


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lucas_(Oklahoma_politician)