Oklahoma State Senator Nathan Dahm has teased a ‘Special Announcement’ on Twitter, scheduled to be made on Tuesday, September 28 in Broken Arrow, OK.
While the subject of the announcement is not being previewed, it has been learned that the website Dahmforsenate.com was created on September 20th. The only entry on the site is a message about the announcement and a link to RSVP on another site. Was this domain created for a U.S. Senate campaign or is it a holdover from his campaigns for the Oklahoma Senate?
A run for the U.S. Senate in 2022 would mean that he would be going against incumbent Senator James Lankford in the Republican primary. The timing of this is interesting because if he defeats Lankford in the primary he would most likely win the general election against whatever sacrificial candidate the Democrats field against him. If Lankford wins the primary, Dahm would still retain his State Senate seat for another two years. If that were to happen, I would not be surprised to see Dahm run for Senator Jim Inhofe’s seat when his term in the U.S. Senate ends in 2024. Inhofe, who will be ninety years old in 2024, has already said he will not be running again.
Dahm could have been considering the possibility of a run for the U.S. Senate for quite some time. Although the limited content on his website was just created this month, the domain name was registered in January 2019. Since he knew he would be term-limited out of the Oklahoma Senate in 2024, it is possible he was thinking ahead to a future office.
In 2018 he ran for Congress in Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district but lost in the primary, getting only 20% of the vote. Being in the middle of a state senate term, he was able to continue on with that office and do some more career planning.
I have no doubt that some of Dahm’s past comments will come back to be used against him in any quest for the U.S. Senate, especially if he wins the primary and has a Democrat opponent in the general election. His comments about Vice President Kamala Harris would definitely come back to haunt him and be used as a battering ram against him by Democrats. No doubt some Republican voters may find his comments distasteful, which could end up hurting him at the ballot box.
Jamison Faught of Muskogee Politico was the first to report Dahm’s announcement, writing a post earlier today. I completely agree with Jamison that Dahm is a “flagrant self-promoter and headline chaser” who has filed pointless legislation designed to be “legislative clickbait, more meme than meaningful and groveling attention-grabbers.” 100% accurate.
While Dahm does seem to relish tweaking the liberals and stroking his own ego, I will also note that his conservatism is completely unabashed and without question. Some of the legislation he has filed that actually had some merit dealt with sanctuary cities, gun rights, and abortion. He is without a doubt the most conservative member of the Oklahoma Senate.
If Dahm ever does make it to the U.S. Senate I have no doubt his modus operandi would continue, with the Democrats and national media being simultaneously apoplectic at him and also not knowing what to do about him. I think it would actually be fun to watch. I also have no doubt that he would be one of the most, if not the most, conservative member of the U.S. Senate.
Whatever office he might end up running for, it should be an interesting election to watch, especially if it is an office on the national level.
Update 9/28/2021: Senator Dahm has announced he will be running for the U.S. Senate and trying to unseat incumbent Senator James Lankford.
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