A story developing out of Oklahoma that's hitting the major papers tomorrow could have a big effect on the race to represent the Sooner state in the U.S. Senate. I first saw the story over at the New York Times, and it looks like the Washington Post has also decided to run with it as well.

In tomorrow's edition of the Post, Lois Romano pens an article entitled "Okla. Senate Candidate Is Accused of Fraud." She leads with this:

One of the most competitive Senate races in the country turned nasty this week, as former GOP congressman and obstetrician Tom Coburn has had to respond to published reports that he committed Medicaid fraud 14 years ago.

The allegation stems from a medical malpractice suit brought by a 20-year-old woman who said that Coburn, without her permission, removed one of her fallopian tubes, which left her sterilized. The case never went to trial, but court documents first reported this week by Salon.com show that Coburn withheld information about the sterilization in submitting a bill to Medicaid for a related procedure involving a troubled pregnancy because the Medicaid program does not cover the sterilization of anyone younger than 21. Coburn said he withheld the information to ensure the woman was reimbursed for the cost of removing the other fallopian tube in which a fetus was lodged.

As I wrote before, I don't know how this story is going to pan out in the state, but it is certainly going to significantly going to affect the race in one way or another. As Carson begins to make a move in the polls (Romano writes that "Carson [is] gaining on Coburn after a month of aggressive Democratic campaigning and advertising -- coupled with a series of odd and controversial comments by Coburn."), this could prove to be just one more in a series of coincidental events that truly hurt Coburn's chances in this highly Republican state. If Carson does end up winning, the Democrats will be in a much better situation to retake the Senate.