Primary loser accuses winner of being a stand-in, says the real candidate died in 2011
There was a clear winner last Tuesday in Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district Republican primary: Rep. Frank Lucas, who received 82.8 percent of the vote. Too bad he's dead, and a body double has been impersonating him since 2011.
Well, that's what his opponent, Timothy Ray Murray, is claiming. Murray came away with just 5.2 percent of the vote, and is now contesting the results, saying on his website: "It is widely known Rep. Frank D. Lucas is no longer alive and has been displayed by a look alike. Rep. Lucas' look alike was depicted as sentenced on a white stage in southern Ukraine on or about Jan. 11, 2011," then hanged by "The World Court."
A rep for Lucas says that he is alive and well and has never been to Ukraine. Lucas himself told news station KFOR: "It does come as kind of a shock to read that you're not you."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This weird Dave meets Weekend at Bernie's scenario might take the cake for most bizarre conspiracy theory. "A lot of stupid things happen in Oklahoma politics, but this may be the stupidest I've ever heard," Keith Gaddie of the University of Oklahoma told The Washington Post. "Welcome to Oklahoma."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million



