Texas Governor Greg Abbott Among Seemingly Safe GOP Incumbents Under Attack From Right-Wing

Dallas TX

21 July, 2021

12:31 PM

Description

CBS Dallas/Fort Worth July 21, 2021 Republican U.S. Sen. James Lankford would seem to have all the conservative credentials he'd need to coast to re-election in deep-red Oklahoma. A devout Baptist, Lankford was the director of the nation's largest Christian youth camp for more than a decade. He speaks out regularly against abortion and what he describes as excessive government spending. And his voting record in the Senate aligned with former President Donald Trump's position nearly 90% of the time. But like several other seemingly safe GOP incumbents, Lankford, who didn't even draw a primary opponent in 2016, finds himself under fierce attack by a challenger in his own party. The antagonist is a 29-year-old evangelical minister and political newcomer who managed to draw more than 2,000 people to a "Freedom Rally" headlined by Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, at which Lankford was accused of being not conservative enough. CBS Local Digital Media personalizes the global reach of CBS-owned and operated television and radio stations with a local perspective.