Oklahoma’s Hern to Run for US Senate, Joining House Exodus (1)

Republican Rep. Kevin Hern will announce a run to succeed Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who was tapped to be Secretary of Homeland Security, this afternoon, according to a person familiar with his plans.

Hern will become one of more than two-dozen House members who are abandoning the chamber to seek statewide office in 2026.

Hern, a member of House GOP leadership, currently helms the Republican Policy Committee and previously led the conservative Republican Study Committee. The former McDonald’s Corp. franchisee first took office in 2018 and made an unsuccessful bid for the House speakership after Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) ...