Stitt Picks Rich, Less Embarrassing White Guy to Fill Mullin’s Senate Seat

Over the weekend, word leaked that Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt – fresh off being rejected by Donald Trump for Oklahoma’s open U.S. Senate seat – will appoint Williams Companies chairman Alan Armstrong to keep the Senate office warm and under the heat lamp until Congressman Kevin Hern assumes responsibilities in January November.

Reese Gorman – the former Norman Transcript reporter who can’t quite quit Oklahoma – broke the news for NOTUS on Saturday night.

Wow, that’s surprising! Out of all the rich white guys in Oklahoma, I thought Stitt would have chosen Bob Funk Jr. from Express Personnel. This is a temporary position, after all.

Here’s more from NOTUS:

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has chosen Alan Armstrong, an oil and gas executive, to finish out the remainder of Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s term, three sources told NOTUS.

The two men are expected to meet with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to iron out the details of the appointment and discuss it further, two of the sources said.

Yep, even though the President doesn’t have any legal or constitutional sway over the selection, Stitt still made the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to bend the knee, present his offering, and receive a formal blessing. I’d love to know how that meeting went. Did they pierce their hands with rose thorns and share blood to seal their loyalty, or skip the ceremony and go straight to the bribes?

Whatever happened, Trump and Armstrong apparently hit it off. This is despite Armstrong once contributing to the campaign of famed never-Trumper Adam Kinzinger.

So there you have it. Even though Donald Trump doesn’t have to approve Stitt’s selection, he apparently did, so now some dude named Alan Armstrong will get to be our new U.S. Senator for nine months or so.

As Louis would say, I guess that’s fine.

Although he shares some things in common with Marcuswayne – they’re both rich, they’re both conservative, and they both know a lot about pipes – Armstrong appears to be the exact opposite.

For example, after watching some interviews on YouTube, it’s quickly apparent that he is educated, highly intelligent, and can get through a TV interview without mispronouncing words, saying something stupid, or challenging someone to a fight:

Seriously, isn’t that refreshing? It’ll be nice to have a regular run-of-the-mill senator again—one who quietly uses his office to shill for the energy industry and push pipeline expansion across the country, instead of just going on TV and acting like an ass. It’s been a while since we’ve had one of those!

That being said, there are still some red flags.

The first, and most glaring, is that he was appointed by Stitt. Over the past seven years, that usually hasn’t ended well.

The second concern is that I couldn’t find any real dirt on Armstrong. In Oklahoma politics, that’s either very impressive… or very concerning.

For the most part, his record is squeaky clean, and he actually seems like a good dude. Which makes you wonder — what’s the catch? I guess if you have any theories — or tips — let us know in the comments.

In the meantime, stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.