Rep. Kevin Hern won Oklahoma’s Republican Senate primary Tuesday, securing the GOP nomination outright and avoiding a runoff in the race to succeed Markwayne Mullin after his appointment as Homeland Security Secretary.
Results were called early Tuesday with about 24% of votes counted, giving Hern 67.5%, followed by Gary England (14.3%) and three other candidates.
Hern, who has represented Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District since 2019, entered the race as the favorite after receiving an early endorsement from President Donald Trump. The congressman maintained a substantial lead throughout the campaign and surpassed the majority threshold required under Oklahoma law to win the nomination without advancing to an August runoff.
In the November general election, Hern will face either Democrat N’Kiyla Thomas or Jim Priest. Neither candidate secured more than 50% of the vote, setting up a runoff on August 25.
The Senate seat opened after Mullin resigned earlier this year following Trump’s nomination for Homeland Security Secretary. Governor Kevin Stitt appointed energy executive Alan Armstrong to serve temporarily until a special election could be held under state law.
A businessman before entering politics, Hern built a network of McDonald’s franchises and later served in Congress as a conservative ally of Trump. Throughout the campaign, he emphasized border security, fiscal restraint, and support for the president’s agenda.
Trump’s endorsement helped clear much of the Republican field early and reinforced Hern’s position as the race’s front-runner. The president praised Hern as a strong supporter of the America First movement and urged Oklahoma Republicans to back his candidacy.
With the primary concluded, Hern advances to the November general election as the favorite in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1990. Republicans have dominated statewide federal elections in Oklahoma for decades, making the GOP nominee the strong favorite to retain the seat.
The outcome also triggers an open-seat contest in Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, setting up a separate fight among Republicans to succeed Hern in the Tulsa-area seat.
