logo
Login Subscribe
Google Play App Store
  • News
    • Obituaries
    • Lifestyle
    • Opinions
  • Sports
  • E-edition
  • Calendar
  • Archives
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Advertisers
    • Form Submission
    • About Us
    • News
      • Obituaries
      • Lifestyle
      • Opinions
    • Sports
    • E-edition
    • Calendar
    • Archives
    • Contact
      • Contact Us
      • Advertisers
      • Form Submission
      • About Us
Challenge examined in Sooner State’s Congressional Primary
commentary
June 19, 2024
Challenge examined in Sooner State’s Congressional Primary

Oklahomans took to the polls Tuesday, June 18 to choose their party’s candidates for several positions including the U.S. House of Representatives. The presumptive winners will most likely come from the Republican Party, so they have garnered most of the attention.

As per the U.S. Constitution, members of the House serve twoyear terms, so all five Oklahoma’s districts are up for reelection.

In two of Republican primaries, incumbents are running unopposed: Josh Brecheen in District 2 and Stephanie Bice in District 5. The other three districts are moving forward but if you watch TV commercials, it seems as if there is only one race flooding the airwaves: incumbent Tom Cole versus challenger Paul Bondar for District 4.

There are many issues in this race, from border security to funding for Ukraine, to who Trump loves most. But the real issue seems to be Bondar’s Oklahoma residency. While I am in no position to answer this question, the idea of who can run for Congress seems worthy of exploration.

First, the Constitution. Article 1, Section 2 reads, “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons.”

What this fancy language means is that the number of Representatives for each state is determined by population. Later in the section it states that a census is made every 10 years and the Representatives are arranged accordingly. Oklahoma is a smaller state so based on the 2020 census it only has five Representatives while Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont and Washington D.C. only have the mandatory one, while California has a whopping 52 Representatives — scary. According to the original Constitution, the numbers are made up of free people, including indentured servants and possibly the most controversial part of the Constitution, three out of every five slaves. Indians were not counted until 1924 when they became citizens.

Section 2 also lists the qualifications of Representatives: “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty-five Years and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.” Those are the only qualifications. In fact, the candidate for a U.S. House district does not even have to live in the district, only the state. While the Bondar living situation is dominating the airwaves, it is not the first time this issue has been raised.

In 1790 Maryland passed a law requiring candidates to live in their congressional district for a year before being eligible to run for the House. However, in 1807 William McCreery won a congressional seat from the 10th District, which encompasses the city of Baltimore. Joshua Barney, who came in second, made an appeal to Congress not to seat McCreery because his residency for the past year was in question. Ultimately a Congressional committee overseeing the appeal dismissed the claim on the grounds that Maryland did not have the right to add qualifications for a federal office. It argued that federal qualifications should be uniform and that they were protecting the people against “encroachments on their liberties by their own State legislatures.”

While the McCreery episode was a committee ruling, the idea became law in 1969 with the Powell v. Mc-Cormack U.S. Supreme Court case. In 1966 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was reelected to his congressional seat even though he was embroiled in controversy over allegations of misappropriated congressional travel funds. When Powell arrived at the next session of Congress, he was denied his seat and an investigation was launched. Powell sued Speaker of the House John Mc-Cormack to be allowed to take his seat and the case made it to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that Powell met all the qualifications of the Constitution, was duly elected, and that no other qualifications can be placed on a Representative. Finally, there is the case of U.S. Term Limits Inc. v. Thornton. Several states had passed term limits in their states for members of Congress. In 1992 when Arkansas passed a similar law it was sued by Ray Thornton claiming the law unconstitutional. In 1995 the Supreme Court agreed with Thornton citing that states cannot impose qualifications stricter than those the Constitution specifies.

With Oklahoma’s race for District 4, as long as Bondar officially lives in Oklahoma – even for a short amount of time – he is legally qualified to run for Congress. It will be up to Oklahoma voters to decide if his recent move qualifies him to represent the Sooner State.

James Finck is a professor of history at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. He can be reached at HistoricallySpeaking1776@ gmail.com.\

The annual 4th of July Fireworks show
A: Main, news
The annual 4th of July Fireworks show
July 9, 2025
Eufaula’s population was swollen over the weekend as thousands of out-of-towners joined locals to watch the annual 4th of July Fireworks show, held Friday, July 4. The display took place over the Eufa...
A: Main, news
City gets more attorneys; OKs growth plan
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
New-and-former City Manager Jacob Foos continues to make changes at city hall. Shortly after being re-hired for the position he left in September, 2021, Foos issued a statement that he was establishin...
Local resident stars in U.S. Cellular ad
A: Main, news
Local resident stars in U.S. Cellular ad
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
In all of her 58 years Louana Christie, EHS Class of ’85, never thought she would appear before a camera. Movie making was for her older sister, Selina Jayne Dornan, former Eufaula mayor and who once ...
A: Main, news
Eufaula school feels the chill from Trump’s funding freeze
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
When the Trump administration announced this week it was freezing over $70 million in education funding earmarked for Oklahoma, it surprised a lot of administrators. Eufaula School Superintendent Mont...
A: Main, news
Trump freezes over $70 million in state’s education funds
July 9, 2025
States won’t receive funds from six federal programs, including after-school care and English learner support, until further notice. NURIA MARTINEZ-KEEL OKLAHOMA VOICE OKLAHOMA CITY — The Trump admini...
Noah Alexander trades football uniform for West Point uniform
A: Main, news
Noah Alexander trades football uniform for West Point uniform
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
Noah Alexander will begin his senior year at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., this fall. It seems like only yesterday he was a stand-out running back for the Eufaula Ironheads, ...
ePaper
google_play
app_store
Editor Picks
Bud McCombs to speak to Friends of Library
news
Bud McCombs to speak to Friends of Library
By LENORE BECHTEL 
July 9, 2025
How Eufaula happened to exist will be Friend’s speaker’s topic at the Eufaula Memorial Library at 1 p.m. Friday, July 18, When Eufaula was only an intersection, the city’s founding fathers lived in a ...
news
Annual Memorial Service planned at Honey Springs Battlefield
July 9, 2025
CHECOTAH — Honey Springs Battlefield will hold its annual memorial service on Saturday, July 19, at 10:30 a.m. to honor the 162nd anniversary of the Battle of Honey Springs near Checotah. The service ...
Calls needed to protect National Weather Service operations
commentary
Calls needed to protect National Weather Service operations
By JOE DORMAN OICA CEO 
July 9, 2025
OKLAHOMA CITY – We at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) extend our deepest condolences to families tragically impacted by the recent flooding in Texas. Flooding along the Guadalupe Rive...
news
Jeff Starling launches campaign for attorney general
July 9, 2025
TULSA ––Jeff Starling, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Energy and Environment, has officially announced his candidacy for Attorney General of Oklahoma. Starling is a conservative, attorney, businessman, and d...
Warriors of God, ready yourselves
commentary
Warriors of God, ready yourselves
July 9, 2025
Of my 56 years of being in this world, 50 of those years I have been filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I was only six years old when I attended my first Tiger Mount...
Facebook

THE EUFAULA INDIAN JOURNAL
100 N. 2nd Street
Eufaula, OK 74432

(918) 689-2191

This site complies with ADA requirements

© 2023 THE EUFAULA INDIAN JOURNAL

  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Policy