# Oklahoma U.S. Senate 2026 (special) ## Snapshot **Settled August 25: [[Kevin Hern]] (R) vs. [[N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas]] (D)** for the remainder of [[Markwayne Mullin]]'s term. Mullin was confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security 54–45 on March 23 and sworn in the next day; Gov. [[Kevin Stitt]] appointed Williams Companies chairman [[Alan Armstrong]] as a caretaker barred by state law from running. Hern, the Tulsa congressman and former [[Republican Study Committee]] chair, cleared the June 16 primary with 69.8%. The Democratic side went to a runoff, and Thomas — a 31-year-old nurse, Chickasaw Nation citizen and self-described democratic socialist who ran on about $55,000 — won it 61–39 over nonprofit executive Jim Priest, becoming the first democratic socialist to win a major-party statewide nomination in Oklahoma. The August CHS poll has **Hern 49–25**. Solid R. ## The vacancy - **[[Markwayne Mullin]]** (R) — senator 2023–March 2026; resigned on confirmation as DHS Secretary, replacing [[Kristi Noem]]. - **[[Alan Armstrong]]** (R, appointed March 24) — Williams Companies chairman; serves until the special-election winner is sworn in. Oklahoma law bars an appointee from running for the seat. ## How the nominations were decided ### Republican primary (June 16, 2026) | Candidate | Votes | % | |---|---|---| | **Kevin Hern** | 267,222 | **69.8** | | Ty England | 51,875 | 13.5 | | others | — | 16.7 | Hern — U.S. Representative OK-01 since 2018, RSC chair 2023–2025, now House Republican Policy Committee chair; former McDonald's franchisee — was endorsed by Trump, Stitt, Thune, Tim Scott and Lankford. Ty England is the country singer. ### Democratic primary and runoff | Round | Thomas | Priest | |---|---|---| | June 16 primary | 45.2% (76,330) | 23.9% (40,290) | | **Aug 25 runoff** | **61.2%** (79,201) | 38.8% (50,238) | Thomas ran a social-media campaign from Ardmore as a military spouse and nurse; Priest was the City Rescue Mission executive the April draft of this page expected to win. ## General election Hern vs. Thomas. Hern has raised about $9M with $2M on hand; Thomas entered the general with about **$450**. The last Democrat to hold the seat was David Boren (to 1994). The winner serves through January 2029 and must run again in 2028 for a full term. | Poll | Dates | Hern | Thomas | |---|---|---|---| | CHS & Associates (500 RV, ±4.3) | Aug 3–6, 2026 | 49 | 25 | ## Money **[[Kevin Hern]] has self-funded $5,050,000 in candidate loans** — $3,850,000 on 2026-03-24 and $1,200,000 on 2026-03-31, both line SA13A with Schedule C back-references (`SC/10`), neither repaid. He also moved **$2,185,222.73** from his House committee Hern for Congress (C00636092) and **$174,765.90** from the Hern Victory Fund joint fundraising committee (C00736975), both dated 2026-03-31. That is **$7,409,988.63 of candidate-controlled money** assembled by the end of Q1 2026, and it is loans rather than contributions — repayable to Hern from later fundraising. The figures are Q1 money that only became visible on **2026-09-29**, in an amended Form 3 (file **2015504**) filed after an FEC request for additional information dated 2026-07-01. Two further amendments the same morning cover April–May (file 2015508) and late May–June (file 2015509). Source: `docquery.fec.gov/dcdev/posted/2015504.fec` No independent-expenditure activity has appeared in this race in the FEC filings reviewed here. ## Ratings history - Cook Solid R (Aug 20) · Inside Elections Solid R · Sabato Safe R. Unchanged. ## Key dates - 2026-03-23 — Mullin confirmed as DHS Secretary - 2026-03-24 — Armstrong appointed - 2026-06-16 — primaries (held) - 2026-08-25 — Democratic runoff (held) - 2026-11-03 — special general election ## Intel notes - **Red-state Senate seats as cabinet holding pens.** Mullin → DHS, with a barred caretaker and a Trump-endorsed House member sliding into the seat, is the clean version of the pattern; contrast Florida, where the appointee (Moody) was allowed to run. Stitt's choice of a non-candidate preserved his own leverage and produced no primary fight. - **Hern's trade** — a safe House seat and the RSC platform for a safe Senate seat with a 2028 re-run — is the House-to-Senate pipeline working exactly as designed; the OK-01 successor race is the secondary story. - **Thomas is the 2026 test of whether the "democratic socialist" label costs anything where the Democrat cannot win anyway.** With $450 and a 24-point poll deficit, her share against Hern is the only number the race will produce; compare Dodson's 15.8% in the NM primary and Burbridge's polling in RI for the label's ceiling inside Democratic primaries, and her general-election share for its floor outside them. ## Related KB entities - [[Markwayne Mullin]] · [[Alan Armstrong]] · [[Kevin Hern]] · [[N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas]] - [[Kevin Stitt]] — made the appointment - [[Republican Study Committee]] · [[MAGA]] ## Content leads - **Blog**: "Red State Senate Seats as Cabinet Holding-Pens" — Mullin/Armstrong/Hern as the case study. - **Data**: Senate-to-cabinet moves 2025–2026 and how each governor filled the seat. ## Outside spending ### Outside-money log — FEC Form 24 notices ### Receipt date 2026-10-07 — [[High Plains PAC]] $165,000.00 for [[Kevin Hern]] | Committee | File | Amount | Direction | Payees | |---|---|---|---|---| | **[[High Plains PAC]]** | **2017699** | **$165,000.00** | support [[Kevin Hern]] | [[Advocacy Architects]] | 🔴 **Oklahoma is not a competitive Senate race.** The smallest of four round-number, 100%-support lines on [[High Plains PAC]]'s 2026-10-05 notice — a Wyoming-branded super PAC funded **90.8% by one Wyoming 501(c)(4)**, [[Senate Opportunity Fund]], sole payee [[Advocacy Architects]]. It is also the committee's first expenditure outside Ohio and Wyoming, firing a trigger set 2026-09-21. See [[Senate Opportunity Fund 1.97M to High Plains PAC]]. ## Sources - [NonDoc — Thomas wins Senate runoff, becomes Oklahoma's first democratic-socialist nominee (Aug 25, 2026)](https://nondoc.com/2026/08/25/nkiyla-jasmine-thomas-wins-u-s-senate-runoff-becomes-oklahomas-first-democratic-socialist-nominee/) - [NBC News — Thomas wins Oklahoma Democratic Senate runoff](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/nkiyla-jasmine-thomas-wins-oklahoma-senate-primary-democrat-rcna593618) - [The Hill — Hern wins Oklahoma GOP Senate primary](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5924483-hern-oklahoma-senate-republican-primary/) - [Oklahoma Voice — Stitt appoints Armstrong (Mar 24, 2026)](https://oklahomavoice.com/2026/03/24/stitt-appoints-tulsa-businessman-as-oklahomas-next-us-senator/) - [Wikipedia — 2026 Oklahoma Senate election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_Senate_election_in_Oklahoma)