Rep. Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, governor's race heads to runoff

By — John Hanna, Associated Press John Hanna, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/rep-kevin-hern-wins-oklahoma-gop-nomination-for-u-s-senate-governors-race-heads-to-runoff Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Rep. Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, governor's race heads to runoff Politics Jun 17, 2026 1:44 PM EDT U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern easily won Oklahoma's GOP nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, and the race for a new governor in the deeply conservative state began with Republicans Gentner Drummond and Mark Mazzei advancing to a runoff. In a primary that again tested President Donald Trump's status as Republican Party kingmaker, both Hern and Mazzei carried his endorsement in their bids to win open races for two of Oklahoma's biggest offices. With nearly all the votes counted, Drummond, the state's attorney general, was narrowly ahead of Mazzei, a former state senator. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. The primary had Republicans picking their preferred successor to outgoing Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and a nominee for the Senate seat once held by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Democrats haven't won a Senate seat in Oklahoma since 1990. Hern's most serious potential GOP rivals stayed out of the Senate race after Trump endorsed him even before Mullin was confirmed as a replacement for fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Hern received more than 50% of the primary vote to avoid a runoff. He struck a somewhat bipartisan tone in speaking with reporters after winning big, touting his experience as a House member working on issues such as trade and energy. He promised to represent conservative principles and "Oklahoma ideologies" in the Senate and noted he already has relationships with senators. "We have a lot of friends in a lot of different states, including blue states," Hern said. READ MORE: Live Results: Oklahoma midterm primaries Trump endorsed Mazzei last month in a hotly contested race that also had other major candidates, including former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall and Chip Keating, a former state public safety director who is the son of a two-term governor. Drummond told reporters at his watch party that he had expected a runoff after Trump endorsed Mazzei and suggested that Trump could reconsider his endorsement of Mazzei, saying, "who knows?" "Mr. Mazzei got a bump, but now he's got to earn the rest," Drummond said. Trump repeated his endorsement of Mazzei on his Truth Social platform on Monday. Mazzei told supporters Tuesday night, "All I can say is, 'Wow.' "Eighteen months ago when we started this adventure, no one thought this was possible," he said. "The political insiders said we had no chance. We started at zero, but who in here actually had faith we could get the job done and get in the runoff