Oklahoma's governor picks energy executive Alan Armstrong to fill U.S. Senate seat through end of year

Oklahoma’s governor appointed energy executive Alan Armstrong to fill new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin's Senate seat through the end of the year.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s governor on Tuesday appointed energy executive Alan Armstrong to serve in the U.S. Senate through the end of the year and finish the term of Republican Markwayne Mullin, the new homeland security secretary.

The choice by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who had pledged to pick a “conservative voice” to fill Mullin’s seat, elevates to the Senate the chairman and former CEO of Williams Companies, a major pipeline operator based in Tulsa.

“He’s a strong business leader who understands the power of free markets and limited government,” Stitt said.

Mullin, who was confirmed on Monday to take over the embattled Department of Homeland Security, would have been up for reelection in November.

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