By Constitution Staff

President Trump’s unexpected replacement of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem with Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin caused a shakeup in several races for office in Oklahoma. The news of Mullin’s appoint on March 5 came just one month before the April 1-3 filing period of Oklahoma candidates for office. For weeks there was speculation about who might run for the open U.S. Senate seat, and the down-ballot impact resulting from other office holders and candidates setting their sights on Mullin’s open seat.

Senator Mullin’s appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a vote of 54-45 on March 23, and Mullin resigned from his U.S. Senate post. The Republican senator was elected to the U.S. Senate seat in 2022, having previously served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. When he first ran for the House seat in 2012, he pledged to serve no more than six years, but ran and won reelection in 2018 and also in 2020. In 2022 he successfully ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the late Senator Jim Inhofe. He was elected to fill the remainder of Inhofe’s term which was set to expire this year, and Mullin was running for reelection to a full six-year term when he received the Trump appointment.

Mullin, 48, owned a number of businesses, including Mullin Plumbing which spans much of the state and which he sold in 2021. He also has ranching operations in Adair and Wagoner counties. He compiled a mostly conservative record in Congress. One-eighth Cherokee Indian, Mullin is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, and was the only Native American in the U.S. Senate.

Due to the timing of Mullin vacating the senate seat, it was necessary for Gov. Kevin Stitt to appoint an interim U.S. Senator to serve the remainder of Mullin’s term which would have expired next January. However, following the election of the next senator in the upcoming General Election on November 3, the newly elected senator can immediately be sworn in and begin service. This would give the new senator seniority over others newly-elected to the U.S. Senate this year.

Under Oklahoma law, any individual appointed to the vacant seat must have been a member of the same political party as their predecessor for the previous five years, and sign a public oath with the Oklahoma Secretary of State affirming they will not seek the office when it next appears on the ballot.

Governor Stitt named longtime Tulsa energy executive Alan Armstrong as the temporary Senator. Armstrong, a 1985 graduate of the University of Oklahoma, is Chairman of the Board of The Williams Companies and previously served 14 years as chief executive officer. The Williams Companies is one of the nation's largest natural gas pipeline operators and is headquartered in Tulsa.

With Senator Mullin no longer running for reelection, there was much speculation about who might run for the open seat. One-by-one the potential major candidates opted not to make the race, including Governor Stitt and Fifth District Congresswoman Stephanie Bice. First District Congressman Kevin Hern was the first to confirm he was making the race. And President Trump’s early endorsement of Kern made him the frontrunner for the senate seat, and probably deterred other major candidates from entering the race.

While the April 1-3 candidate filing period drew thirteen candidates, Congressman Kern is considered to be the odds on favorite to take the seat. Five Republicans, five Democrats, one Libertarian, and two independent candidates filed for the U.S. Senate.

With Congressman Kern no longer running for reelection in the First District, a dozen candidates filed for that open seat, including eleven Republicans and one Democrat.

Please see the article on the “Race for Congress” elsewhere in this edition for details about the candidates running for the U.S. Senate, and the five Oklahoma districts in the U.S. House of Representatives, including the First District.