“Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is leaving the department and being replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), President Trump said Thursday.”
“Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is leaving the department and being replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), President Trump said Thursday.”
Doesn’t this mean one fewer Republican Senators then? He was elected in 2023 so he still had safe years on his term in office.
Also from Wikipedia:
“He is the only currently serving senator without at least a bachelor’s degree.”
Well, trump has said “I love the poorly educated”, so this is an on-brand choice for trump.
Senators are eligible to be replaced by the sitting Governor by appointment. My guess is that the OK Governor would appoint someone right away, so that once Mullin is confirmed and in his new position his replacement can be sworn in right away.
Normally, that appointment would only last until the end of the Congressional session, meaning that seat would have to go on the ballot this November. But it wouldn’t surprise me if OK figured out a way to say it was too close to the election to add another race now, and figured out a way to have the new person serve the remainder of Mullins’ term.
According to Oklahoma state law, the special election for the remainder of the term takes place during the next statewide primary and general election. However, if the vacancy occurs after March 1st during an even numbered year, the special election gets delayed until the next election cycle after that year.
Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/oklahoma/title-26/section-26-12-101/
So they won’t have to have the special election this year. Though I doubt it makes that much of a difference. If they were going to lose that seat, they were going to lose the senate no matter what.