OKLAHOMA CITY — The four candidates vying to replace the only Democrat in Oklahoma’s congressional delegation ramped up their campaigns and tried to distinguish themselves from their primary opponents with just a little more than three weeks to go before the Aug. 28 runoff.

With few differences on policies between the two candidates on each side of the race, the political hopefuls have turned to highlighting their backgrounds and experience and, in some cases, launching attack against their opponents.

On the Democratic side, Muskogee seed company owner Wayne Herriman’s campaign blasted his opponent, longtime prosecutor Rob Wallace, for a failed business venture involving a Ukrainian mining operation and the suspension by the Oklahoma Tax Commission of several companies with which Wallace was associated.

Wallace’s camp fired back that Herriman has dodged repeated requests to participate in a debate.

“In the broader scope of things, the reason that primaries get ugly is that there’s not a lot of general principles or issues that separate these folks,” said Ken Hicks, a political science professor at Rogers State University in Claremore, which is located inside the eastern Oklahoma district. “They have the tendency to be concurring a lot, and so they have to find reasons to get people to vote for them.”

On the Republican side, three-term state Rep. George Faught launched a series of attack ads against his opponent, plumbing company owner Markwayne Mullin. One ad blistered Mullin for mistakenly saying he supported a “single-payer” health care system, while another raised questions about a former Mullin employee who was sent to prison for violating federal gun laws.

Mullin’s campaign manager painted the attacks as a desperate move by Faught, who received 23 percent of the vote to Mullin’s 42 percent in a six-way primary on June 26.

“He was just trying to blunt some of the momentum we had after the primary. He had to try and change the narrative,” said Mullin’s campaign manager Tim Ross. “It hasn’t worked.”

Faught’s campaign said the attack ads were more about ensuring that voters know all of the facts about Mullin.

“The 2nd District deserves to know the facts,” Faught’s campaign manager Elisha Krauss said. “They deserve to the know truth, and they deserve to ask Mr. Mullin questions and get direct answers about it.”

Both Mullin and Faught are business owners. Mullin is president and CEO of Mullin Plumbing, known for its red vans with “The Red Rooter” logos on the side. Faught and his family established a carpet cleaning business in Muskogee more than two decades ago.

Mullin, who has never before run for office, has painted himself as a political outsider, while depicting Faught as a career politician. Faught, 50, who has only served for six years as a state representative, bristles at the term but maintains his experience in office is a benefit.

“He’s shown he can relate to both sides of the aisle without compromising his principles,” Krauss said.

On the Democratic side, Herriman has employed a similar strategy, emphasizing his private-sector experience as an agri-businessman and characterizing Wallace as a bureaucrat and political insider for his service as a state and federal prosecutor.

“People see Wayne as a small business owner who is in this to go to Washington to create jobs and improve things,” said Herriman campaign manager Tony Coppola. “They’re tired of traditional politicians who think they don’t have to play by the rules.”

Coppola also brought up Wallace’s connection to several businesses that have been suspended after ceasing operations, including a venture Wallace launched into a Ukrainian mining operation.

Wallace campaign manager Kyle Gott maintains Wallace does not owe any back taxes and that the mining venture failed because Wallace refused to pay bribes to government officials in the former Soviet republic.

“It was a business venture that wasn’t successful, and the primary reason it was not is because Rob played by the rules,” Gott said. “He (Herriman) is grasping at straws and is coming up with things from 20 years ago that aren’t accurate.”

Wallace also maintains his service as district attorney in southeast Oklahoma proves he’s electable.

“He’s got a record of protecting families here in eastern Oklahoma and being a voice for people who don’t have a voice, victims of crime,” Gott said.

In the end, the race could come down to who is able to raise the most money and get on television in the sprawling district that stretches across 26 counties in eastern Oklahoma, said Hicks, the political science professor.

“In this district, typically the side that spends the most money tends to win,” Hicks said.

Mullin, who loaned his campaign more than $255,000, had raised the most money, with a total of nearly $870,000 raised, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission reports that cover the period through the end of June. Wallace had the next highest fundraising total, with more than $530,000, while Faught raised more than $417,000 and Herriman raked in more than $331,000, including more than $213,000 in personal loans to his campaign.

Campaign managers for all four candidates said they plan to launch another round of television advertising before the Aug. 28 primary, but all said the details were still being finalized.

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Sean Murphy can be reached at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy