Alex Cameron Breaks Down Tom Cole's Win Over Paul Bondar In District 4 Primary Election

On Tuesday, the political landscape was catching attention with several significant U.S. House races involving Oklahoma lawmakers.

Congressman Kevin Hern and Democratic candidate Dennis Baker take District 1, covering Tulsa and surrounding areas, and will face off again in November.

Republican Congressman Frank Lucas secured his re-election in District 3, which covers 32 counties, including Oklahoma, Lincoln, and Kingfisher. Lucas has served in that spot since 19-94.

One of the races that had many Oklahomans talking was in District 4. Representative Tom Cole defeated newcomer Paul Bondar in the primary election.

News 9's Washington Bureau Chief Alex Cameron joined News 9 This Morning live from Washington D.C. with analysis.

Cameron said this race was very popular not just locally but nationally due to the amount of money spent leading up to the election.

"Bondar is reportedly spending $5 million, a lot of that his own money, on going after Tom Cole, a man who is so well respected here in Washington and respected on his own. So there were some people, especially here in D.C., sort of scratching their heads," Cameron said.

Cole beat Bondar by 65% to 25% at the polls, a margin Cameron said was similar to the last several primary elections.

Cameron said getting 25% of votes is respectable but was not good enough to beat such a highly valued member of Congress.

"If Paul Bondar was trying to make some headway with voters suggesting that Tom Cole isn't conservative enough or he's selling out to Democrats, I don't think he made very strong inroads in getting that message across," Cameron said.

As for the upcoming presidential debate and election, Cameron said things across the nation have gotten increasingly partisan.

"It's an election year, and so everything is political," Cameron said. "There's a lot of talk back and forth going on, and so a lot of build-up interest in what's going to happen in this debate," Cameron said.