Governor Kevin Stitt has handed one of Oklahoma’s most high-profile temporary gigs to a familiar name from the state’s energy scene, tapping Tulsa executive Alan Armstrong on Tuesday to fill Oklahoma’s vacant U.S. Senate seat through the end of the year. The announcement came at a midday news conference in Oklahoma City as Sen. Markwayne Mullin prepared to head to Washington for his new Cabinet post, according to The Associated Press.
Stitt touted Armstrong as a steady conservative hand and shared the pick on X. According to The Associated Press, Armstrong, the former president and CEO of Williams Companies who shifted to executive chairman last year, will serve out Mullin’s term after Mullin was confirmed as Homeland Security secretary. The Associated Press also notes that Armstrong has never held elected office.
Who Is Alan Armstrong?
Armstrong spent nearly four decades climbing the ranks at Williams, starting as an engineer and eventually becoming president and CEO in 2011 before moving into the executive chair role in 2025, according to a Williams Companies press release. Under his leadership the company expanded its natural gas transmission, storage and processing network, and Armstrong’s long tenure in Tulsa’s business community has made him a regular on the state’s civic and corporate circuit.
What Comes Next
State law requires that Stitt’s appointee agree not to run in the November election, which turns the role into a short-term stewardship position rather than a springboard for a campaign. As noted by The Associated Press, Mullin’s move to the Department of Homeland Security leaves the upcoming race wide open. Rep. Kevin Hern has already jumped in, according to NBC News via Yahoo.
Stitt is pitching Armstrong as a business-minded consensus figure, and backers say his deep experience in the energy sector could shape how he approaches fights over natural gas, infrastructure and related policy. Critics, on the other hand, are likely to seize on the optics of elevating a pipeline executive to the Senate, a line of attack that will almost certainly resurface as campaign season shifts into high gear this fall.
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