Republican Kevin Hern Wins Oklahoma Senate Seat to Replace Markwayne Mullin

“Tonight, Oklahomans made their voices heard loud and clear: they want a strong, proven conservative who puts America first,” Kevin Hern told supporters after the Associated Press called the race for him once he reached 60% of the vote, according to OKCFOX. The four-term congressman from Tulsa has won the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Markwayne Mullin, capping a chain of political moves that began when President Trump tapped Mullin to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Mullin left the Senate to replace Kristi Noem at the helm of Homeland Security, and Oklahoma voters headed to the polls Tuesday to decide his replacement. Hern, who entered the race as the heavy favorite in ruby-red Oklahoma, defeated Democratic nominee N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, a nurse and community advocate who won an August runoff against Jim Priest. Hern secured endorsements from Gov. Kevin Stitt, Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Sen. James Lankford, while Stitt appointed Sen. Alan Armstrong to fill the remainder of Mullin’s term this spring — an appointment Oklahoma law bars from running for the full term.

Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma seat in the US Senate; Republicans win Congressional seats

A Primary Built on Trump’s Backing, and a General Election That Wasn’t Close

Hern’s path to the nomination was effectively cleared in June, when he earned the Republican nomination in a landslide, taking more than 50% of the vote in a five-person field and avoiding a runoff after Trump’s endorsement kept his most serious potential rivals out of the race. That endorsement arrived even before the Senate confirmed Mullin as Noem’s replacement.

According to the Tulsa Flyer, Hern, a Tulsa businessman who owned 24 McDonald’s franchises in northeastern Oklahoma before entering politics in 2018, raised more than $10.8 million between January and Oct. 14 — including about $5 million in personal loans. Thomas, an avowed democratic socialist whose platform includes Medicare for all and universal childcare, raised about $115,000 over the same stretch, the Flyer reported.

Republican Kevin Hern Wins Oklahoma Senate Seat to Replace Markwayne Mullin — Photo: thehill.com

Political analysts had predicted an easy Hern victory, noting that Democrats haven’t won a U.S. Senate race in Oklahoma since 1990. Even so, the race was tightly contested early on election night before the AP called it for Hern.

Two Visions, Two Oklahomas

DNC Chair Ken Martin cast Thomas as a fighter for affordability: “Voters throughout Oklahoma have repeatedly turned out to support candidates who will be relentless champions for working families and who will prioritize making life more affordable. As a nurse and community advocate, N’Kiyla ‘Jasmine’ Thomas is a proven leader who will work tirelessly to bring down costs, expand access to healthcare, create good-paying jobs, and invest in communities across the state.”

Oklahoma Results: Hern Wins the Open Senate Seat

Hern answered in kind during the campaign, telling voters that Thomas “represents the far-left, socialist wing of the Democratic Party” while he was “committed to advancing commonsense conservative policies that deliver results and put America first.”

Oklahoma overwhelmingly chose common sense, Hern said in his victory statement, as reported by OKCFOX.

Kevin Hern Wins Oklahoma Senate Race, Republicans Secure Another Victory | NewsX World

Final tallies from the Tulsa Flyer, with about 88% of precincts reporting, showed Hern with 564,442 votes — roughly 58% — to Thomas’s 367,569.

Musical Chairs in Tulsa: Tedford Takes Hern’s House Seat

The same ballot that sent Hern to the Senate also filled his vacated House seat. State legislator Mark Tedford, a Jenks insurance executive, defeated Tulsa Public Schools board member John Croisant with 53% of the vote, 114,503 to 103,414, according to the Tulsa Flyer. Tedford, who declared victory after 9 p.m., told the Flyer that voters responded to his message of being a statesman tired of “partisan politics.” He described himself as a continuation of Hern “in many ways” — “We’re both conservative, and we both believe in a pro-business approach” — while insisting, “I’ll be myself. I’ll be different than him. You know, what exact policies those are kind of yet to be determined.”

Hern, who chaired the House Republican Policy Committee and served on the Ways and Means Committee after being sworn into the House in November 2018, told the Flyer he hopes to push through bills already passed by the House. “We’ve worked really hard (and) sent over 700 bills in the House that have not been passed. We need to get those through,” he said, citing the National Defense Authorization Act and the agriculture bill as priorities for western Oklahoma farmers.

Looking ahead to the Senate, Hern said he is “ready to hit the ground running on day one,” working alongside Trump “to lower costs, unleash American energy, support our law enforcement officers and military servicemembers, and restore the American Dream for our future generations.” Whether that agenda can move in a chamber where Democrats have been shut out of Oklahoma’s Senate seats for more than three decades is the question Hern now carries to Washington.