The Hill’s 2012 New Members Guide

Oklahoma

Rep.-elect Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.-01)

DATE OF BIRTH: June 15, 1975

BIRTHPLACE: Ann Arbor, Mich.

RESIDENCE: Tulsa, Okla.

OCCUPATION: Pilot in U.S. Navy Reserve  

EDUCATION: B.A., Rice University; M.B.A., Cornell University

PREVIOUS OFFICE HELD: None

FAMILY: Wife, Michelle; three children

The Republicans held onto Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district with Jim Bridenstine’s victory over Democrat John Olson. 

Bridenstine upset Rep. John Sullivan (R) in the GOP primary, making Sullivan the first Oklahoma congressman unseated in a primary fight since 1994. Bridenstine successfully leveraged Tea Party support in his victory and has promised to serve no more than three terms.  

A triple-major in economics, psychology and business at Rice University, and a holder of an M.B.A from Cornell University, Bridenstine has served as a pilot in the U.S. Navy for the past nine years, flying the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft in combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has also served as the executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and launched a failed attempt to bring one of the three retiring space shuttles to the museum.