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They're high school sweethearts.
By Samantha Maffucci — Written on Nov 30, 2018
Since 2015, James Lankford has served as a U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, succeeding Tom Coburn and winning the special election with 68 percent of the vote. The same thing happened again in 2016 when he ran for reelection. Before winning his seat, he was a U.S. Representative for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district.
But prior to a career in politics, he was the student ministries and evangelism specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, and director of the youth programming at the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center.
A Republican, he shares many of the same values as his colleagues in the Senate. The NRA endorsed him during his run for a Senate seat in 2014 and has consistently supported looser restrictions on gun purchasing. He’s against firearm microstamping, but after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, said he is open to required background checks for purchasing firearms.
Aside from his position on guns, he’s also against the EPA and thinks they should be barred from regulating emission standards, as it “hinders economic growth.” He also opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, claims that being gay is a choice, and doesn’t believe gay people should be protected from workplace discrimination.
Considering that he has such conservative values, what is life like for the Senator and his family? Do they agree with his views? Just who is James Lankford’s wife? Here are 4 things to know about Cindy Lankford and their life together.
1. They are high school sweethearts.
The two met in school, though they like to disagree with one another about the circumstances. In an interview with CBN News, they went back and forth:
“‘We met in high school actually, and there's some debate about what year we met in high school. Of course, I'm right on that,’ James said.
‘Sophomore year,’ Cindy Lankford chimed in.
‘Yeah, it was junior year,’ Lankford said as he and his wife laughed.
2. They’ve been married for over 25 years.
The couple tied the knot in 1992.
3. They have two kids.
They have two daughters: Hannah and Jordan.
4. They are Baptist.
The family attends Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. And according to Cindy, “Every part of what [James] does is to honor Christ, to be obedient to Him, to know Him and make Him known. And it's evident in everything that he does and so it’s very fun because something that we get to do now is watch God unfold things that we wouldn't have seen before.”
Samantha Maffucci is an associate editor for YourTango who focuses on writing trending news and entertainment pieces. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.