Since joining Congressman Tom Cole’s team in 2019, Scott Chance has been working with members of the community “to get feedback on issues important to Southwest Oklahoma and let constituents know what’s going on in Washington, D.C.,” Chance told Southwest Ledger in 2020.
Cole is the U.S. Representative for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District — home to approximately 710,000 Oklahomans from Choctaw to the Oklahoma/Texas border south of Thackerville and east of Ada to west of Frederick.
Seeking his 11th two-year term in the House, Congressman Cole is currently a Ranking Republican on the House Rules Committee and a Vice Ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee. The congressman is also a Ranking Republican of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies and a member of the Subcommittee on Defense.
Chance meets face-to-face with constituents who ask questions and voice their concerns and he sees how policy impacts communities every day.
“When it comes to working with Oklahomans, it doesn’t matter which political party or whether you live in a big city or not, we’re going to make sure we take care of you,” he said.
Chance also connects with industry and community leaders, educators and various community services to lend support and help residents resolve issues with government entities.
Congressman Cole’s office is working on “additional defense programs coming to Fort Sill, spurring exciting new economic development, and investing in the state while taking note of the cost of inflation on families,” Chance said.
Growing up in “a pretty apolitical family” in Choctaw, after high school, Chance earned an Associate of Science in Public Administration and Social Service Professions from Oklahoma State University in 2012. While at OSU, he was active in Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature, student government, the George and Donna Nigh Leadership Academy, and alumni development. Transferring to the University of Central Oklahoma, between 2012 and 2013, Chance received his Bachelor’s in Public Administration and was also voted in as OIL’s 42nd governor. He also served as the president of the OIL Foundation from 2013 to 2015.
The “political bug” bit Chance in 2014 when he was selected to manage state Insurance Commissioner John Doak’s re-election campaign. Then, before she suspended her campaign in New Hampshire, Chance was part of 2016 Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina’s SuperPAC.
After traveling to Iowa to take part in the Iowa caucus, Chance worked on a few smaller races before serving as Congressman Cole’s deputy campaign manager. In 2017 and 2018, Chance managed Matt Pinnell’s campaign for Oklahoma’s lieutenant governor. He then got the call to represent Congressman Cole’s Lawton office in early 2019.
When asked about the political outlook as we push into midterm elections, Chance said: “The writing on the wall has Republicans taking back the majority in the House and possibly the Senate. Republicans continue to lead on a range of issues and just recently, polling has shown even a majority of Hispanic voters now favor the Republican Party. When you add this to the tradition of U.S. presidents losing seats for their party in Congress in the first midterm, 2022 is looking to be a very good year for Republicans, especially in Oklahoma.”
Of the 100 U.S. Senate seats, Republicans currently lead Democrats, 50-48, respectively, with two seats held by Independents. Of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats currently hold the majority with 222 seats to Republican’s 211; two seats are currently vacant.
“Oklahoma stands to gain two committee chairmanships in the House of Representatives if Republicans take back Congress. It is an exciting time in politics back home with the retirement of Senator Jim Inhofe,” Chance said. “People will have lots of choices to push forward and change the direction of the country as they see fit.
“We have real challenges, but the American people solve hard problems every day and I’m blessed to be able to serve communities of great Americans in Southwest Oklahoma and other parts of the 4th Congressional District.
“I have a lot of faith in this great country of ours. As Congressman Cole says frequently, ‘When people stop wanting to come to America, then we’ll have real problems.’”