Oklahoma’s governor on Tuesday appointed energy executive Alan Armstrong to serve within the US Senate through the end of the year and end the time period of Republican Markwayne Mullin, the brand new homeland safety secretary.
The selection by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who had pledged to decide a “conservative voice” to fill Mullin’s seat, elevates to the Senate the chairman and former CEO of Williams Companies, a serious pipeline operator primarily based in Tulsa.
“He’s a strong business leader who understands the power of free markets and limited government,” Stitt mentioned.
Mullin, who was confirmed on Monday to take over the embattled Department of Homeland Security, would have been up for reelection in November.
The final 9 months of his time period will now be crammed by Armstrong, who below Oklahoma legislation should agree to not run for a full time period this fall. Republican US Rep. Kevin Hern shortly introduced his candidacy for the Senate seat and has already been endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Armstrong, who has by no means served in elected workplace, has spent his profession with Williams Companies, which employs about 5,800 individuals and specializes within the assortment, storage and transportation of pure gasoline. He turned president and CEO in 2011 and transitioned to executive chairman final year.
Armstrong, 63, mentioned making it simpler to get permits for main infrastructure initiatives within the US can be one of his high priorities within the Senate.
“The truth is, it’s gotten very, very hard to build large-scale infrastructure, and it is so critical to our country’s competitiveness in the long term,” he mentioned.
Armstrong mentioned he met with Trump and believes his earlier work with Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright helped him earn the president’s assist.
“Those gentlemen know how hard I’ve been working to get permitting reform done, so he (Trump) was very welcoming and highly supportive,” Armstrong mentioned. “It was a very interesting meeting.”
Armstrong is a longtime supporter of Stitt, giving him $8,500 in whole marketing campaign contributions since 2018, the utmost quantity allowed below Oklahoma legislation.
Stitt, who will depart workplace in January and is head of the National Governors Association, made the decide weeks after Trump lashed out at him following a dispute over who was allowed on the group’s annual assembly.
Former Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett, Jr., described Armstrong as an “even-tempered individual” who’s extra doubtless to construct consensus round a call fairly than being pushed by political ideology.
Bartlett, whose father served within the US Senate within the Nineteen Seventies, mentioned Armstrong’s data of the energy trade and its market components additionally make him an excellent choice, significantly because the Iran conflict rattles the worldwide movement of oil.
“I think that certainly is a great approach, finding consensus for making a decision,” mentioned Bartlett, the president of an oil and gasoline firm.
In affirmation hearings final week, Mullin tried to current himself as a gentle hand to the lead company following the firing of Kristi Noem, who got here below intensifying backlash over immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations carried out below her watch.