Congressman-Elect Starts Listening Tour Through District 2

One of Oklahoma's newest congressmen is setting out on an aggressive tour of his district.

Less than a month after wrestling District 2 out of Democratic hands, Republican Congressman-Elect Markwayne Mullin is launching a new campaign.

In January, Mullin will be sworn in, but he doesn't want to waste any time waiting to hear from his constituents.

Mullin will stop in every single county in District 2, which covers the Eastern third of the state - from Kansas down to Texas - and he'll do it in just five days.

"One thing we said when we started was no one was going to out-work us and that we might as well keep that pace up, and we're going to keep it up," Mullin said.

11/28/2012 Related Story: Congressman-Elect MarkWayne Mullin To Hold 'Listening Tour'

The Congressman-Elect traveled to six counties on the first day of his listening tour.

As different as the scenery has been, Mullin says the concerns have been very similar, like military cuts, veterans' benefits, rural schools and the debt crisis.

"The spending, the out of control spending that Congress is having and wondering if there's anything we can do about it. I think there is. You can't convince me our country is too far gone," Mullin said.

That's what brought Guy Brunson to Mullin's stop in Claremore.

"We have a lot of things that are wrong in Washington that I think need to be corrected," Brunson said.

But Brunson and others at the meeting wonder whether Congress can work together in a bi-partisan way to address the problems.

Mullin said it's no wonder there is so much bickering. He said during his orientation for lawmakers in Washington, the group was physically separated according to political party.

He said, if they can't eat or sit together, how can they be expected to work together?

Mullin promised he'll work to break those habits.

"I'm representing everybody and it doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat; we have to make sure our conservative values, who we are inside our district, who we are as everyone who lives inside Oklahoma—that we're represented well," Mullin said.

Mullin said he hopes these meetings create an on-going discussion during his first term with the people he represents.

The listening tour continues tomorrow with five more counties.

Find the complete list of stops here.