On Tuesday, Timothy Ray Murray (pictured) challenged longtime incumbent Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) for the Republican nomination in Oklahoma’s 3rd Congressional district. Murray lost, but he did manage to pull in 3,442 votes, good for 5.2 percent of the total. Now Murray says he will contest the outcome of the election. Because, he says, Lucas is dead and has been replaced by a “look alike.”

“The election for U.S. House for Oklahoma’s 3rd District will be contested by the Candidate, Timothy Ray Murray,” Murray wrote in a press release posted on his campaign website. “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.”

On the website, Murray claims that Lucas and “a few other Oklahoma and other States’ Congressional Members,” were executed “on or about” Jan. 11, 2011 in southern Ukraine.

“On television they were depicted as being executed by the hanging about the neck until death on a white stage and in front of witnesses,” the website claims. “Other now current Members of Congress have shared those facts on television also. We know that it is possible to use look alike artificial or manmade replacements, however Rep. Lucas was not eligible to serve as a Congressional Member after that time.”

The bizarre charge was first reported by KFOR TV in Oklahoma City. The station reported that while Oklahoma election board officials had also received Murray’s press release, Murray had yet to file a formal petition to contest the election. The station also sought comment from Lucas, who said that he had never been to Ukraine.

“Many things have been said about me, said to me during course of my campaigns,” Lucas told KFOR. “This is the first time I’ve ever been accused of being a body double or a robot.”

Murray, who previously challenged Lucas in 2012 while running as a Democrat, ran on a pledge to “help bring U.S. House leadership back to traditional values and defend and serve the voice of The People.” Federal Election Commission records show that Murray raised and spent just $50 on his campaign. His campaign website’s “issues” page called for balancing the budget, creating incentives for job growth in “all tiers” of the job market, protection for small businesses and banks, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and tax reform. He also pledged to “never use a look alike to replace my (The Office’s) message to you or to anyone else, as both the other Republican Challengers have.”

Murray did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TPM on Friday.

(h/t Huffington Post)

Photo credit: timothyraymurray.com