Tom Cole
Tom Cole, a Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee and has represented Oklahoma's 4th congressional district since 2003, seeks reelection in 2026 against Democrat Mitchell Jacob.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Tom Cole.
- Born
- April 28, 1949
- Birthplace
- Shreveport, Louisiana
- Education
- Moore High School (1967)
Grinnell College (1971)
Yale University (MA in British history, 1974)
University of Oklahoma (PhD in British history, 1984)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Tom Cole was born on April 28, 1949, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of John D. Cole and Helen Te Ata (née Gale), the first Native American elected to the Oklahoma Senate. He is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation.
A fifth-generation Oklahoman, Cole lived in various locations during childhood because of his father's military background, and his family returned to Oklahoma when he was in sixth grade.
He graduated from Moore High School in 1967 and from Grinnell College in 1971, then earned an MA from Yale University in 1974 and a PhD from the University of Oklahoma in 1984, both in British history.
He was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of London from 1977 to 1978 and worked as an assistant professor of history and politics.
Career
Tom Cole worked on the staff of U.S. Representative Mickey Edwards from 1982 to 1984 and chaired the Oklahoma Republican Party from 1985 to 1989. He served in the Oklahoma Senate from 1988 to 1991, was executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 1991 to 1993, and served as Oklahoma's secretary of state from 1995 to 1999 under Governor Frank Keating. From 1999 to 2001 he was chief of staff of the Republican National Committee.
Cole was first elected to Congress in 2002, defeating Democrat Darryl Roberts with 53.8% of the vote. After the 2006 election cycle, House Republicans elected him chairman of the NRCC. On April 10, 2024, he was elected chair of the House Appropriations Committee, the first Native American and the first Oklahoman to hold the post, and he is the longest-serving Native American in the history of Congress.
2026 race
Tom Cole is the Republican incumbent in Oklahoma's 4th congressional district, which is based in southern Oklahoma and includes Lawton, Norman and southern Oklahoma City.
He was re-elected with 65.3% of the vote in 2024, and in the 2026 Republican primary he won 71.1% of the vote against retired businesswoman Marcie Everhart.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Democrat Mitchell Jacob, who won his primary with 54.4% of the vote, and independent Rocco Bonacci, a member of the Lawton Access Board.