Here’s who could run to replace Mullin after DHS nomination |
Here’s who could run to replace Mullin after DHS nomination
President Trump on Thursday tapped Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to replace Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), creating a vacancy in the U.S. Senate and setting off a scramble to replace him.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) has 30 days to appoint someone from Mullin’s party to temporarily fill the seat after the senator leaves his post, but the appointee must pledge not to run for a full term afterward.
Speculation about the race quickly grew after news of Mullin’s selection to Trump’s Cabinet, with several top Oklahoma figures rising to the top of the potential list.
“‘Who is considering running?’ The prevailing view in Oklahoma … is that ‘Who is not considering?’ — that might be a shorter list,” said Bob Burke, a constitutional expert and attorney in the state.
Two Republicans were quick to throw their names into the mix of potential candidates.
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), a wealthy businessman who could help self-finance a potential campaign, told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday, “Stay tuned for the announcement next week.”
Tyler Powell, a partner at Oklahoma-based political strategy firm CSS Partners, told The Hill that, “based on some intel we’ve got, he [Hern] is going to announce next week.” Powell said he expects to “wake up on Monday or Tuesday and see a Hern announcement.”
Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) — who proved she could win a competitive race by unseating former Rep. Kendra Horn (D) in 2020 — also teased a potential run.
“It’s the honor of a lifetime to stand side by side with President Trump for the people of Oklahoma,” Bice wrote Thursday on the social platform X. “I’ve received encouragement from every corner of this great state to run for the US Senate. And it’s something I’m carefully considering.”
“Stay tuned!” she added.
Oklahoma Republican strategist Pat McFerron, founding partner of CMA Strategies, said he thinks the race is Hern’s to lose.
“I think it starts with Kevin Hern, and it might end with him,” McFerron said. “He might be able to clear the field.”
“He’s got money he can roll over. He’s got personal wealth, he’s got good numbers, he’s solid with the right side of the electorate, which is what really matters,” he added. “I think people here would suspect that he would have Trump support depending on who else gets in the race. So, I think he’s definitely at the top of the list.”
McFerron called Bice a “formidable” and “very credible candidate” if she decides to enter the race, but he said of Hern, “I could not advise anybody to run against him.”
Powell similarly said Hern is the likely front-runner, pointing to reports that Hern is expected to throw $5 million of his own money into a campaign, with $2.5 million sitting in his campaign account.
The Oklahoma strategist called himself “a big Stephanie Bice fan” but said, “I don’t think this is the right race for her right now.”
“I think she’s going to have a hard time in a primary,” Powell said. “She does not have the resources that Kevin Hern can walk into, and she doesn’t have the ability to self-fund.”
“You’re looking at, literally, a 90-day campaign in the primary,” he added.
The three-day filing period will take place April 1-3, when interested candidates will need to declare their intention to run. The primary will be held June 16, and, if no candidate wins a majority, a runoff will take place in late August.
Several other Oklahoma politicians have been named as potential contenders in a race that could have a domino effect on state politics. Some might ultimately decide to run for the U.S. House, should a vacancy open up if either Hern or Bice fills the Senate slot.
The Oklahoma governor is one name that appears on some lists of potential Senate candidates.
Hailing from a state that sided with Trump by more than 30 points in 2024, the chair of the National Governors Association would likely face an uphill climb after a clash with Trump over the annual governors’ meeting in D.C. last month.
“Stitt’s numbers are not in a spot where he probably can run,” Powell said. “So I don’t really see that as being real.”
Burke, though, said Stitt is at the top of the list of potential contenders because he’s term-limited as governor. The governor also has broad name recognition and the funds to potentially support a short campaign.
Other names that have been floated as potential candidates for Senate include Mike Mazzei, who is currently running for governor. He served in the Oklahoma Senate for 12 years and as Stitt’s secretary of budget.
T.W. Shannon — the former speaker of the Oklahoma House who has twice run unsuccessful bids for U.S. Senate — is running for lieutenant governor and could switch, though some strategists doubt whether he’d run a third time.
Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell did not rule out a potential run for national office.
“The Lt. Governor is watching how things unfold and evaluating where he could best continue serving the people of Oklahoma in the future,” Pinnell’s office said in a statement to The Hill.
But Powell said he doesn’t see Pinnell running for Mullin’s seat. Calling Pinnell a “future rock star that can come out and do big things,” the strategist suggested that the lieutenant governor could potentially run to fill Hern’s House seat, if the congressman sought the Senate seat.
“At this point it’s Hern’s to lose, if he gets in the race, I think that there’s going to be a lot of other folks that then go through and start playing the game of, you know, if Hern gets in, who all runs for that seat?” Powell said. “There’s going to be a lot of downballot folks looking to see what else opens up.”
In the meantime, Stitt has 30 days from the date of Mullin’s resignation to appoint a temporary replacement, who will serve until a new senator is elected in November. The new senator will then take office right away and start a new term in January. Mullin’s Cabinet appointment will still need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Under a 2021 law, the Senate appointee must be from the same registered party as the previous senator — in this case, a Republican like Mullin — for at least five years. They’ll also have to sign a unique pledge not to run in the next special or general election for the post.
NOTUS reported Friday that oil tycoon Harold Hamm, a major Republican donor, has already asked Stitt for the appointment.
Other names floated as potential appointees include Donelle Harder, Stitt’s chief of staff; Bond Payne, Stitt’s former chief of staff; Dustin Hillary, a prolific donor who serves as senior adviser to Stitt; John O’Connor, who was Stitt’s appointee for state attorney general in 2021; and Alex Gray, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2022 special election for Senate in Oklahoma.
Mullin, who was up for reelection in November, was himself elected to the Senate in that 2022 special election, defeating a rival Democrat by roughly 27 points in the red state to fill the remainder of former Sen. Jim Inhofe’s (R-Okla.) term.
“The only thing that is fortuitous for the people of Oklahoma is that, where we were not expecting a race for the U.S. Senate, then all at once we are having a situation where an entire election, campaign for the U.S. Senate, is going to be condensed time-wise,” Burke said.
“An entire campaign for the U.S. Senate is going to play out in Oklahoma over the next nine months.”
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
More State Watch News
Trump rejects UK’s offer to send aircraft carriers to Middle East: ‘We will ...
America’s military has an Iranian drone problem
Trump, Hegseth claim Iran bombed girls’ school, not the US
Ex-Marine forcibly removed from hearing vows to continue Senate campaign
Daines’s last-minute retirement maneuver leaves Capitol Hill stunned — and ...
Cindy McCain among 28K Americans who fled Middle East as conflict intensifies
Judge voids layoffs at VOA, rules Kari Lake unlawfully ran US media agency
Trump says Cuba’s next: Here’s how it could play out
What we know about Noem’s new ‘Shield of the Americas’ role
19 states approved permanent daylight saving time. Why they still have to ...
Trump has been right about oil all along
Kennedy: Noem was ‘dead as fried chicken’ after Senate hearing
House Republican files for reelection as independent after California ...
Trump Accounts: IRS announces rules proposal for $1K payments
Republican Darrell Issa not seeking reelection
VOA Persian journalist says he was fired over coverage of Reza Pahlavi
Trump revamps war on drugs with ‘Shield of the Americas’ endeavor
Obama slams Trump at Jesse Jackson funeral without naming him