CHICAGO — A man licensed to sell insurance in Illinois who recently voted in Texas is facing criticism that he’s a carpetbagger and questions about his residency in his run for an Oklahoma congressional seat.

Political newcomer Paul Bondar, the name behind Deerfield-based Bondar Insurance Group, last week began running ads in his campaign to unseat incumbent Rep. Tom Cole in the Republican primary for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District this June, prompting questions about who he is and an allegation from Cole that he’s trying to “buy” the seat.

Illinois records show that Bondar, 44, retains an active insurance license in the state. On that license, he listed his “domicile state” as Texas, and he also checked a box indicating that he is not an Illinois resident. But Bondar claims he now lives in Oklahoma.

“I’ve been in a number of different states throughout the United States. Most recently prior to Oklahoma, I was in Texas,” he told WGN sister station KFOR in Oklahoma City. “I invested in Oklahoma. We bought 500 plus acres… We’re building a very large forever house on this 500 acres over a pond. And so this is a bigger commitment in the state of Oklahoma that we’ve made.”

Bondar told KFOR the 500-acre ranch he purchased is near Durant, Oklahoma. That community is not within the boundaries of OK-4, however the U.S. Constitution only requires a congressional candidate live in the state they’re running to represent, but not the actual district.

While the ‘forever’ house is being built, Bondar said he and his family have been living in a rented home in Stonewall, Oklahoma. He claimed he listed the Stonewall address as his residence when he filed to run for office with the Federal Election Commission, but a copy of his FEC candidate filing submitted on May 3 lists an address in Norman, Oklahoma.

According to the assessor in Cleveland County, which includes Norman, Bondar does not own the property listed on the FEC filing. It lists a woman other than Bondar’s wife as the sole owner of the property.

Documents show Bondar still owns a home in Heath, Texas and registered to vote using the address as recently as March, facts he does not deny.

“If you look at voting laws, I own a property and what I voted on was I voted on state policies regarding IDs being necessary for voting. … As a landholder in a person, I can vote, I can vote in in a number of different places for the particular issues of those places that that is absolutely true,” Bondar said.

He said he still owns a home in Illinois and two in Michigan, adding that he recently liquidated two properties to fund the investment in Oklahoma.

Still, KFOR was unable to confirm whether Bondar lives in the Sooner State.

Bondar’s campaign ads describes him as a successful businessman, devout Christian, and Trump Republican. He told KFOR that he’s never run for public office and credits Roger Stone and Michael Flynn as key influences in his decision to run for the Oklahoma seat.

“I was asked to run by many,” he said.

Stone, a political strategist, was convicted on seven felony counts for interference in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into interference in the 2016 presidential election. President Donald Trump later pardoned him. Flynn, the former U.S. National Security Advisor, pleaded guilty to felony charges to “willfully and knowingly” making false statements to the FBI during the Mueller investigation. Trump later pardoned Flynn as well.

Bondar said he got to know the men in recent years through his support of other candidates.

“I support American first type policies. It’s important to me to support a conservative type policy, a conservative type candidate. And they’ve been attached to those particular candidates,” he told KFOR.

Bondar for two decades owned Bondar Insurance Group. He said he sold the company “a couple weeks ago” when he decided to run for office, but Alera Group announced its acquisition of the company in January 2021.

Bondar told KFOR that he’s been busy the past few weeks campaigning in towns within Oklahoma’s 4th District, but that’s not where he was when KFOR spoke with him. He was in Texas.

Oklahoma’s Republican Primary election is Tuesday, June 18.