James Lankford
| James Lankford | |
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United States Senator from Oklahoma |
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Assumed office January 3, 2015 Serving with Jim Inhofe |
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| Preceded by | Tom Coburn |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 5th district |
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In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2015 |
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| Preceded by | Mary Fallin |
| Succeeded by | Steve Russell |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Paul Lankford March 4, 1968 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Cindy Lankford |
| Children | 2 |
| Education |
University of Texas, Austin (BS) Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv) |
| Website |
Senate website Campaign website |
James Paul Lankford (born March 4, 1968) is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from Oklahoma. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. Representative for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district from 2011 to 2015.
From 1996 to 2009, Lankford was the student ministries and evangelism specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, and he was director of the Falls Creek youth programming at the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center in Davis, Oklahoma. He stepped down on September 1, 2009, to run for Congress.
In January 2014, Lankford announced he would run in the 2014 special Senate election to succeed Tom Coburn. He subsequently won the June 2014 primary with 57% of the vote, becoming the Republican nominee for the November election. He would go on to win with nearly 68% of the vote.
Lankford was born March 4, 1968 in Dallas, Texas, the son of Linda Joyce (née House) and James Wesley Lankford. His mother was an elementary school librarian. His maternal grandparents owned a small dry cleaning business, his father and paternal grandparents a dairy farm. His stepfather was a career employee of AC Delco, the parts division of General Motors.
His parents divorced when he was four; his mother and older brother and he lived for a time in his grandparents' garage apartment. He became a Christian at eight. His mother remarried when he was twelve, and the family moved to Garland with his stepfather. Lankford attended Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland. While at Lakeview Lankford participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education (specializing in Speech and History) at University of Texas at Austin in 1990, and a master's degree in Divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1994.
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Wikipedia