Rep. Dan Boren (D) Elected 2004, 1st term
Born:	Aug. 2, 1973, Shawnee
Home:	Paden
Education:	TX Christian U., B.S. 1997, U. of OK, M.B.A. 2000
Religion:	Methodist
Marital Status:	single
Elected  Office:	OK House of Reps., 2002-04.
Professional Career:	Aide, OK Corp. Comm., 1997-98; Loan processor, Danc First Corp., 1999-2000; Staffer, U.S. Rep. Wes Watkins 2000-01.
DC Office	216 CHOB20515, 202-225-2701; Fax: 202-225-3038; Web site: www.house.gov/boren
State Offices	Claremore, 918-341-9336; McAlester, 918-423-5951; Muskogee, 918-687-2533.
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The land that is now northeast Oklahoma a century ago was the Indian Territory, the place where in the 1830s the Five Civilized Tribes were driven from Georgia and Alabama over the Trail of Tears. Almost one in four people here report their race as American Indian, and in some counties one-third or more claim they are at least partly of Native American descent. The Indian percentage is highest in the hilly counties just west of the Ozarks of Arkansas, where county names--Cherokee, Osage, Sequoyah--recall the Civilized Tribes; the street signs in Tahlequah, once the Cherokee capital, are written in the Cherokee script as well as English. This pleasant land of gentle hills and man-made lakes recently has grown at a healthy pace, from overspill from Tulsa and also from retirees and young families moving into the land that became the home of the Civilized Tribes more than 150 years ago.

South of this Indian country is Oklahoma's Little Dixie, settled between 1889 and 1907 by white Southerners, most of them poor. Some of the county names--LeFlore, Pontotoc--are straight from Mississippi. Today, Interstate highways and turnpikes connect people to jobs in more vibrant metropolitan areas, while dam-made lakes have spurred the creation of resort and retirement communities. Still, traditional cultural attitudes and folkways remain strong. Oklahoma voted in November 2002 on a proposition to outlaw cockfighting, which won by 2-1 margins in metro Oklahoma City and Tulsa. But cockfighting is part of local culture in many towns in Little Dixie, and voters there turned out in large numbers and voted to keep cockfighting by similar margins--as much as 78% in some counties.

The 2d Congressional District includes most of the eastern third of Oklahoma, except for metropolitan Tulsa. It includes Muskogee, subject of Merle Haggard's song, "Okie from Muskogee," Will Rogers's hometown of Claremore in Rogers County and the late Speaker of the House Carl Albert's home in McAlester in Pittsburg County in Little Dixie. McAlester is also the site of a massive army ammunition plant that manufactures non-nuclear bombs ranging in size from 500 to 5,000 pounds (during the war in Iraq, it was forced to add a night shift). This area was ancestrally Democratic, but in the 1980s and early 1990s it trended Republican on cultural issues. In the late 1990s it moved back toward the Democrats, or at least Oklahoma Democrats; Al Gore and John Kerry ran better here than in Oklahoma's other districts, but still lost the 2d to George W. Bush. Democrat Brad Henry carried every county here in the 2002 race for governor and Democrat Brad Carson carried all but two in the 2004 race for the Senate.

The new congressman from the 2d District is Dan Boren, who hails from one of Oklahoma's most prominent political families. His grandfather, Lyle Boren, represented southeastern Oklahoma in Congress from 1937 to 1947. His father, David Boren, was elected governor in 1974 and senator in 1978; he became chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee before he resigned in 1994 to become president of the University of Oklahoma (Boren was breakfasting with CIA director and former Boren staffer George Tenet on September 11, 2001). Dan Boren grew up in Shawnee and in Longview, Texas, where he lived with his mother and stepfather. He graduated from Texas Christian University and the University of Oklahoma Business School; he worked as a college fundraiser, a staffer on the state Corporation Commission and a district aide to Republican Congressman Wes Watkins, who represented Little Dixie until he retired in 2002. Based in rural Okfuskee County, Boren ran for the state House in 2002, raised $200,000 and unseated a Republican who had switched from the Democratic party. He quickly became chairman of the Democratic Caucus. Then, just a year into his term, 2d District Congressman Brad Carson announced that he was running for the Senate, and Boren announced he would run for the House seat. The four-way, July 27 Democratic primary narrowed to a contest between Boren and former district prosecutor Kalyn Free. Boren, who had the backing of business and industry, was the more conservative of the two candidates. At times during their campaign, Boren sounded like a Republican: He claimed that Free would vote like Ted Kennedy if elected to Congress. While Boren supported abortion rights, he opposed partial-birth abortion and favored requiring parental consent for minors wishing to have abortions. He also backed a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Unlike many other Democrats, Boren opposed repeal of the Bush tax cuts. And Boren said he "more than likely would have" voted to authorize the use of U.S. military force in Iraq. Boren's positions aroused significant opposition from left-leaning interest groups. Free was endorsed by several labor unions, environmental groups, plus MoveOn.org. EMILY's List poured more than $500,000 into her campaign, but that wasn't enough. Boren won the Democratic primary 58%-36%, easily avoiding a runoff. He led in all 25 counties, and ran especially well with 71% in Pittsburg County, home of Carl Albert. In a district that has been solidly Democratic in non-presidential elections, Boren won 66%-34% over Republican horse breeder Wayland Smalley.

Over the past 30 years, this has been a district that has sent young and little-experienced candidates to Washington--Democrat Mike Synar at age 28 in 1978, Republican Tom Coburn after a career in obstetrics in 1994, Democrat Brad Carson at 33 in 2000. Boren, at 31 and after only two years in the legislature, is in that tradition. Although he labels himself a "very conservative Democrat," he has opposed major changes in Social Security, favors the reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada and wants to penalize companies that ship jobs overseas. He appears to have a safe House seat, but it seems possible that he may run some day for governor, as his father did, or for senator, as his two predecessors in this seat did in 2004.

Committees

• Armed Services (28th of 28 D): Projection Forces; Tactical Air & Land Forces.
• Resources (21st of 22 D): Energy & Mineral Resources; Forests & Forest Health.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Dan Boren (D)	179,579	66%	$2,018,285
	Wayland Smalley (R)	92,963	34%	$46,832
2004 primary	Dan Boren (D)	73,421	58%
	Kalyn Free (D)	46,061	36%
	Bryan Bigby (D)	5,328	4%
	Other	2,497	2%
2002 general	Brad Carson (D)	146,748	74%	$1,021,705
	Kent Pharaoh (R)	51,234	26%	$304,887

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 166,826 (59%) Kerry (D) 114,113 (41%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 123,952 (52%) Gore (D) 110,791 (47%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Second District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 5
• District Size: 21,225 square miles
• Population in 2000: 690,130; 35.6% urban; 64.4% rural
• Median Household Income: $27,885; 18.5% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 33.2% blue collar; 48.3% white collar; 18.5% gray collar; 15.4% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 70.2% White, 4.0% Black, 0.3% Asian, 16.8% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 6.2% Two+ races, 0.0% Other, 2.4% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 10.2% USA, 7.8% Irish, 7.2% German
• Click here for statewide demographic data.