
- Details
- By Levi Rickert
Republican Markwayne Mullin, a tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation, was elected to the U.S. Senate to represent Oklahoma. When sworn in in January 2023, he will become the only Native American to serve in the U.S. Senate since former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) retired in 2005.
The Associated Press called the race just after the polls closed in Oklahoma.
Mullin defeated Democrat Kendra Horn, a former congresswoman.
First elected to Congress in November 2012, Mullin is a conservative Republican who has represented Oklahoma’s 2nd congressional district since 2013.
Born in Tulsa on July 26, 1977, Mullin became a businessman. At the age of 20, he took over his father’s plumbing business after his father became ill. In addition to owning Mullin Plumbing, he owns Mullin Properties, Mullun Farms, and Mullin Services.
Mullin clinched the Republican nomination for the open U.S. Senate seat in Oklahoma with a landslide victory in the August primary. The five-term congressman beat former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon with 65 percent of the vote in a runoff that was necessary because neither candidate received 50 percent of the vote in the June primary.
Current incumbent Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) announced in February he would resign his seat, which set up the special election that coincided with the midterm elections.
More Stories Like This
House Passes Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Deal; How Native American Members of Congress VotedHistory Made as First Navajo Appointed U.S. Federal Judge in California
California Bill Aims to Increase State Funding for Tribal Housing
Navajo Nation Leaders Recognized the Fallen on Memorial Day
This Day in History — May 28, 1830, Andrew Jackson Signs Indian Removal Act
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.