Mullin Vacancy Would Give Oklahoma Eight US Senate Elections in 12 Years
Ten states have held at least eight elections across a 12-year span during the direct election era
President Donald Trump’s nomination of Oklahoma U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin to serve as the new Department of Homeland Security Secretary sets in motion the likelihood Sooner State voters will see both special and general elections for the office on the ballot this November.
Should Mullin be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Governor Kevin Stitt would make an appointment to fill the vacancy to serve through Election Day in November, at which point a candidate (or candidates) will be voted into office for both the remaining two months of Mullin’s term as well as the subsequent full six-year term.
Special U.S. Senate elections in Oklahoma have become commonplace over the last decade following the resignations of Republicans Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe requiring specials in 2014 and 2022 respectively.
If Mullin vacates his seat, Oklahoma will have held eight U.S. Senate elections over the last 12 years – a novelty seen in only 10 states over the last 113 years since the ratification of the 17th Amendment:
North Carolina (10): Specials in 1948 (death of Democrat Josiah Bailey), 1950 (death of Democrat J. Melville Broughton), two specials in 1954 (death of Democrat Willis Smith and death of Democrat Clyde Hoey), and 1958 (death of Democrat W. Kerr Scott) resulted in the Tar Heel State hosting 10 U.S. Senate elections across 12 years in two spans (1948 to 1960 and 1950 to 1962). North Carolina also tallied eight elections in an eight-year span from 1948 to 1956.
Kentucky (nine): Specials in 1940 (death of Democrat Marvel Logan), 1946 (resignation of Democrat Happy Chandler to serve as Commissioner of Baseball), 1950 (resignation of Democrat Alben Barkley to become Vice President), 1952 (death of Democrat Virgil Chapman), and 1956 (death of Democrat Alben Barkley) created nine U.S. Senate elections from 1944 to 1956. [Kentucky also hosted eight elections from 1938 to 1950 and 1950 to 1962].
Connecticut (eight): Specials in 1946 (death of Democrat Francis Maloney), 1950 (resignation of Raymond Baldwin to serve on the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors), and 1952 (death of Democrat Brien McMahon) led to eight elections from 1940 to 1952, 1944 to 1956, and 1946 to 1958.
Idaho (eight): Specials in 1940 (death of Republican William Borah), 1946 (death of Republican John Thomas), and 1950 (death of Democrat Bert Miller) led to eight elections from 1938 to 1950.
Nebraska (eight): Specials in 1952 (death of Republican Kenneth Wherry) and two in 1954 (deaths of Republican Hugh Butler and Republican Dwight Griswold) resulted in eight elections from 1942 to 1954, 1946 to 1958, 1948 to 1960, and 1952 to 1964.
New Jersey (eight): Specials in 1930 (resignation of Republican Walter Edge to accept a diplomatic post), 1932 (death of Republican Dwight Morrow), and 1938 (resignation of Democrat A. Harry Moore to become Governor) caused eight elections from 1928 to 1940 and 1930 to 1942.
New Mexico (eight): Specials in 1928 (death of Democrat Andrieus Jones), 1934 (resignation of Democrat Sam Bratton to become a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tenth Judicial Circuit judge), and 1936 (death of Republican Bronson Cutting) brought about eight elections from 1924 to 1936 and 1928 to 1940).
Pennsylvania (eight): Two specials in 1922 (deaths of Republicans Philander Knox and Boies Penrose) and 1930 (refusal to seat Republican Senator-elect William Vare due to corruption) led to eight elections from 1920 to 1932 and 1922 to 1934.
Tennessee (eight): Specials in 1930 (death of Democrat Lawrence Tyson), 1934 (resignation of Democrat Cordell Hull to become U.S. Secretary of State), and 1938 (death of Democrat Nathan Bachmann) resulted in eight elections from 1928 to 1940 and 1930 to 1942.
Vermont (eight): Specials in 1923 (death of Republican William P. Dillingham), 1931 (death of Republican Frank Greene), 1934 (death of Republican Porter Dale), and 1940 (death of Republican Ernest Gibson) brought about eight elections from 1922 to 1934 and 1928 to 1940.
In recent political history, Massachusetts famously hosted four U.S. Senate elections from 2010 to 2014 including specials in 2010 due to the death of Democrat Ted Kennedy and in 2013 due to the resignation of Democrat John Kerry to serve as U.S. Secretary of State.
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– MA: It nearly hosted another – in 2005; had John Forbes Kerry carried Ohio he would have been elected president and resigned his seat in late 2004 or early 2005. But then there would have been no by-election in 2013, for whomever succeeded Kerry via election would still have been serving and in all likelihood not have resigned for another job.
– OK: This is one of the states that have gone back and forth regarding the involvement of their governor in filling vacancies (the aforementioned Bay State had changed its relevant law – twice, in less than 10 years!). In the case of the Sooner State, during the 1960s one effectively appointed himself to a vacant seat. More recently (2021?) the legislature passed a law authorizing the governor to appoint an interim senator, though none was appointed in 2022. In between that time span, its governor had had no authority to make any temporary appointments, though no sizable gap in service occurred, since the incumbents who had chosen to depart early made advance notice to the legislature and secretary of state, and the special elections were set up to coincide with the standing elections (David Lyle Boren resigned for non-health reasons in 1994 – as may Mr. Mullen – which actually started the ‘trend’ of early exits of its senators).