State Sen. Andrew Rice is a non-stop campaigner. The Oklahoma City Democrat has been to Norman many times and has received considerable publicity for his legislative efforts.

The first-term Oklahoma senator has also raised more than $1 million in his drive to get the Democratic nomination and face Sen. Jim Inhofe on the November ballot.

It'll take a lot more than that for Mr. Rice to match up with Mr. Inhofe, a U.S. senator since 1994 and a House member before that. He has deep fundraising pockets, having raised about $800,000 in the first three months of the year. Mr. Inhofe has more than $2.2 million in cash on hand, according to an Associated Press report.

Mr. Rice is a formidable opponent and is betting on a national Democratic swing and some anti-Inhofe sentiment generated by the Tulsan's environmental stands.

He'll need more than the national momentum. Oklahoma hasn't collectively voted for a Democrat in more than 40 years.