Oklahoma's congressional delegation and the party line

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Oklahoma's congressional Republicans rarely strayed from the party line, and the state's lone Democrat was faithful to his party three-quarters of the time.

According to a vote study by Congressional Quarterly, Republican Senator Don Nickles led the rest of the delegation in party unity, voting with the Republican majority 99% of the time last year.

The Oklahoman's Washington bureau reports that all six Republicans from Oklahoma scored higher than the 94% average.

In the House, the average Republican voted with the GOP majority 91% of the time.

Representative John Sullivan had the highest score among the Oklahoma delegation with 98%.

Representatives Frank Lucas and Ernest Istook each scored 97%, while freshman Representative Tom Cole voted with his party 96% of the time.

Democratic Representative Brad Carson voted with the majority of his party 75% of the time, compared with an average of 87% for Democrats in the House.