OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas says he’s confident heading into the Nov. 6 general election as he faces two opponents in his bid for an 11th term.

“If I lose sight of what’s important, like any candidate, I run the risk of being voted out of office,” Lucas said. “I believe that I have a track record of coming to Oklahoma every weekend to determine what’s important here.”

Lucas, a Republican, faces two political newcomers, Democrat Timothy Ray Murray of Moore and independent William Matthew Sanders of Stillwater.

Murray said he knows he faces an uphill challenge in taking on an incumbent Republican in conservative Oklahoma.

“I knew from the beginning, from entering this race, it was going to be a challenge. But as I campaign, the people I meet, it’s a vast contrast between the Republican voters and what they want and the Republican leadership in House, what they’re providing,” Murray said.

Murray said the House has failed to consider a job-creation bill and has failed to vote on a farm bill. He said he would support a jobs bill in which the federal government would provide funding to assist states improve infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.

Lucas said he believes the farm bill may be considered during a post-election session of Congress and before the end of the year.

Sanders said he is a former Republican and supports focusing on alternative energy sources, such as wind power, to reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign oil.

“A big part of our trade imbalance is energy-related. We import a lot of our petroleum products,” Sanders said, also expressing support for biofuels.

“I was pretty much frustrated there were not alternative, viable candidates,” Sanders said. “I decided I couldn’t do any worse…. The alternative was to not take that swing,” and not enter the race.

Lucas said his goals for the coming two years is to get the farm bill passed, continue opposing tax increases, overturn the federal health care law and provide funding for the military.

And, Lucas said, being a conservative Republican in what is considered by many to be the reddest of the red states, is a good thing.

“The only thing that would be better is if (President) Obama comes to campaign in Oklahoma personally,” he said. “That would remind voters of all the things that he stands for, that would stir up Oklahomans to come and vote for me and Mitt Romney even more.”