James Paul Lankford (born March 4, 1968) is an American Baptist minister and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Oklahoma's 5th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. From 1996 to 2009, Lankford was president of the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center, a youth camp operated by the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He is an ordained Southern Baptist minister. In 2010, Lankford ran for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district. In the Republican primary, he defeated state representative Kevin Calvey in a runoff, and he defeated Democratic nominee Billy Coyle in the general election. Lankford was reelected in 2012; shortly thereafter, he was named chair of the House Republican Policy Committee.
