James Paul Lankford is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator for Oklahoma since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously 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 director of the youth programming at the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center in Davis, Oklahoma. In January 2014, Lankford announced he would run in the 2014 U.S. Senate special election following Tom Coburn's planned resignation from the Senate. He won the June 2014 primary with 57% of the vote, becoming the Republican nominee. He won the special election with nearly 68% of the vote and was elected to the balance of Coburn's term. He was reelected in 2016, again with nearly 68% of the vote.