Update: James Lankford wins Republican Senate primary with no run-off coming

UPDATE: KRMG news is projecting James Lankford will avoid a run-off and win the republican primary to fill the seat being vacated by Dr. Tom Coburn. Just affter 8:20 p.m. polls showed Lankford holding 56% of the vote with more than 70% of precincts reporting.

Lankford will go on now to the winner of the democratic primary. At the time of this writing Connie Johnson was holding a slight lead on Jim Rogers.

Original story below.

After a primary campaign some would call "testy," James Lankford and his followers gather this afternoon/tonight at the Go West restaurant on New Sapulpa road near the entrance to the Turner Turnpike.

The candidate will be at this location for just over an hour and a half before heading west on the turnpike as the polls close. Lankford plans to stay in Oklahoma City as the bulk of the numbers begin to filter in and tell the story.

Here's the timeline from Go West.

4:06 KRMG arrives and we weren't the first media 0utlet onsite. Only one other person is in the building other than workers, he was setting up broadcast equipment.

4:25 First folks showed up but since no one was here, they left for a few minutes.

4:45 Now the place is starting to fill up, probably 25 people in here now.

5:00 Just had a candidate sighting!

5:10 Yes, Congressman James Lankford is here. he's taking pictures with supporters and shaking a bunch of hands right now.

5:35 Just finished a long interview with the candidate. Stuck by his calm nature on what I think has to be a very nervous day.

5:45 Now we're rocking here. Food is out, the watermelon punch is flowing (non-alcoholic,) and the crowd is growing fast.

6:05 Congressman Lankford told me he is "quietly confident" the Republican portion of this race may end tonight.

6:59 The mood here just changed from excited to nervously excited, polls close in one minute.

7:17 The first numbers seen here had Lankford at 65% and Shannon with 30%. As you can imagine a cheer went up but everyone knows it will more than likely be a long night.

7:58 Numbers now seem to level off with Shannon at 35% and Lankford 55% but keep in mind central Oklahoma reports earlier than NE Oklahoma and Shannon is stronger in the northeast.

8:21 It's over. KRMG and Fox23 are both reporting Lankford will win the republican primary without having to go to a run-off. With more than 70% of precincts reporting, Lankford held a 56%-36%.

http://youtu.be/wpvH2aIcJEw