Body Double

Robot Congressman From Oklahoma?

Was the chair of the House Agriculture Committee murdered in Ukraine and replaced with a robot body double? Probably not, but that isn't stopping the guy who lost a primary to him from making that claim.

For years, lurking in the halls of Congress, there has been a robot who has cast votes, given speeches and pretended to be a congressman. At least that’s what a fringe candidate in Oklahoma claims.

Tim Murray lost his long-shot bid for Congress in Oklahoma without any public notice on Tuesday. Nine-term incumbent Frank Lucas, the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, received 82.8% of the vote in the Republican primary in the Sooner State’s Third Congressional District and Murray received just over 5%. The longshot candidate, who had previously run as a Democrat seemed doomed to obscurity, know only to connoisseurs of the strange in Oklahoma politics. Then Murray announced that he was the winner because the real Lucas had died three years ago and been replaced by a robot body double.

On Friday, in a letter posted to Murray’s campaign website which was obtained by KFOR, a local news station in Oklahoma, Murray alleged that Lucas had been executed by the World Court in Ukraine, “on or about Jan. 11, 2011.”

“The election for U.S. House for Oklahoma’s 3rd District will be contested by the Candidate, Timothy Ray Murray,” the letter says. “I will be stating that his votes are switched with Rep. Lucas votes, because it is widely known Rep. Frank D. Lucas is no longer alive and has been displayed by a look alike. Rep. Lucas’ look alike was depicted as sentenced on a white stage in southern Ukraine on or about Jan. 11, 2011.”

The letter is addressed to “News Person,” and Murray assures voters that he is in fact a human. Both Lucas and Murray have yet to respond to requests for comment from The Daily Beast but a spokesman for Lucas, who has served in Congress for the past twenty years, told The Huffington Post “I can assure you that the congressman is alive.” Murray allegedly sent the letter to the Oklahoma State Election Board, but has not formally filed a petition necessary to challenge the election.

Should the Oklahoma candidate pursue a legal challenge, he’ll need some financial help. According to FEC filings, he has only received $50 in contributions this cycle and his campaign is still $6,448 in debt. And, based on the Terminator movies, fighting robot armies doesn’t come cheap.

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Gideon ResnickPolitical Reporter

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