Democrats challenging U.S. Rep. Steve Russell have picked their battles in recent months, opting to focus on campaigning rather than public policy debates with the election still nearly a year away.

An exception was made in the week after House Republicans passed a tax reform bill.

Democrats have seized on the issue in an attempt to make the Republican incumbent seem out of touch. Kendra Horn called the bill “a ham-handed political gimmick from a do-nothing Congress and a representative who has lost touch with Oklahoma.” Tom Guild said it will “explode the national debt an additional $1.5 trillion.”

“I think Representative Russell's out of touch," said Ed Porter, another Democrat running. "This simply is not a good thing. I don't really know anyone who has talked to Oklahomans about that. The majority of people here don't support it.”