Tipsheet

Longtime GOP Senator Is Calling It Quits Triggering a Special Election That Could Get Intense

Last year, he made his retirement plans known. By the end of his current term, he was going to step away from public life. That was slated to be 2027 for this Republican senator. Well, plans change. We all see those retirement commercials. Sen. Jim Inhofe, who has been representing Oklahoma since 1994, intends to announce that he's stepping down at the end of the year. This triggers a special election to select someone to serve the remaining four years of his term. 

The Oklahoma Republican does plan to serve until the end of the year, but this will reportedly ignite quite a bonfire among Oklahoma Republicans vying to clinch a senate seat. The good news is that Democrats are not going to get this seat. The bad news is that we have a special election that could get nasty and divert resources from other elections and policy battles. 

Inhofe is 87 years old.