James M. Inhofe REPRepublican

James Mountain Inhofe (INN-hoff; born November 17, 1934) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Oklahoma from 1994 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he is the longest serving U.S. senator from Oklahoma. He served in various elected offices in the state of Oklahoma for nearly sixty years, between 1967 and 2023. Inhofe chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2017. Inhofe served as acting chairman of the Armed Services Committee between December 2017 and September 6, 2018 while John McCain fought cancer. After McCain's death, he became chairman and served until February 3, 2021. From February 3, 2021 to January 3, 2023, he served as Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. During his Senate career he was known for his rejection of climate science, his support of constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage, and the Inhofe Amendment to make English the national language of the United States.Prior to his election to the United States Senate, Inhofe was an elected official representing the Tulsa area for nearly three decades. He served as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district from 1987 to 1994 (after losing his first campaign for the office in 1976) and as mayor of Tulsa from 1978 to 1984. Prior to serving as mayor, he represented parts of Tulsa in the Oklahoma Senate from 1969 to 1977 and the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1967 to 1969.