# Alan Armstrong **Alan Armstrong** is a businessman and energy-industry executive named by Oklahoma Gov. [[Kevin Stitt]] to fill the U.S. Senate seat after [[Markwayne Mullin]] resigned in March 2026 to become Secretary of Homeland Security. He is a **caretaker** appointee: the appointment was conditioned on Armstrong **not** seeking the seat in the 2026 election. ## 2026 Senate race See [[OK-Sen-2026]] for full race context. - **Not a candidate**: Stitt deliberately chose someone who would not run, so the appointment would not tilt the open primary toward any contender — preserving the governor's leverage. The seat appears on the regular 2026 ballot, where [[Kevin Hern]] is the Republican front-runner. - Armstrong holds the seat only until the election concludes. ## Background A career energy executive (natural-gas pipeline / midstream sector) with no prior elected office before the appointment. ## Why he matters for the KB Armstrong is a textbook caretaker-appointment case: a governor using a deliberately non-candidate placeholder to avoid distorting an open primary. He is a connective node between [[Kevin Stitt]]'s appointment power, the [[Markwayne Mullin]]-to-DHS move, and the open [[OK-Sen-2026]] contest. ## Related - [[OK-Sen-2026]] - [[Kevin Stitt]] - [[Markwayne Mullin]] - [[Kevin Hern]]