Kevin Ray Hern (born December 4, 1961) is an American businessman and politician from the state of Oklahoma. A Republican, he is a member of the United States House of Representatives for Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district. He was first elected in 2018.

Early life and education

Hern graduated from Dover High School and Arkansas Tech University in 1986 before working at Rockwell International while pursuing a PhD in astronautical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.[1] He received his MBA from University of Arkansas, Little Rock in 1999.[2]

Career

After the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Hern had difficulty finding a job, and became a McDonald’s franchisee. He bought his first McDonald’s in North Little Rock, Arkansas in 1997. He sold the North Little Rock franchise in 1999 to move to Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he bought two franchises. He expanded his business to 18 franchises in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area.[1]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018
See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma § District 1

After Jim Bridenstine resigned from the United States House of Representatives in 2018 to become administrator of NASA, Hern ran to succeed him in Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district in the 2018 elections. Hern advanced to the runoff,[3][4] where he defeated Tim Harris.[5] He then advanced to the general election, where he defeated Democratic nominee Tim Gilpin.[6] Outgoing Governor Mary Fallin then appointed Hern to serve the balance of Bridenstine’s third term. She was able to do so because under Oklahoma law, if a House seat falls vacant in an even-numbered year and the incumbent’s term is due to end the following year, the governor can appoint someone to serve the remainder of the term. Accordingly, Hern was sworn into the House on November 13.[7][8]

2020
See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma § District 1

Hern defeated Democratic nominee Kojo Asamoa-Caesar and Independent Evelyn L. Rogers in the November 2020 general election.

Tenure

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hern’s KTAK Corporation received between $1 million and $2 million in federally backed small business loans from American Bank and Trust as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. KTAK stated it would retain 220 jobs. The loan was seen as notable since Hern is a vocal opponent of deficit spending; in 2018, discussing a balanced budget, he said, “While there is no easy fix to this, the first step is clear: stop adding to it.” In 2020, he said, “This isn’t a bailout. It’s a repayment of what the government has taken away from American workers and businesses.”[9][10][11] KTAK operates franchises. During the Paycheck Protection Program negotiations, Hern pushed to increase the amount of aid going to franchises.[11]

In December 2020, Hern was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden prevailed[12] over incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[13][14][15]

In July 2021, Hern voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number of special immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan, while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed in the House 407–16.[16]

Immigration

Hern voted against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020.[17][18]

Hern voted against the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158), which effectively prohibits ICE from cooperating with Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs).[19]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Electoral history

Republican primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Tim Harris 28,392 27.5
Republican Kevin Hern 23,425 22.7
RepublicanAndy Coleman22,58421.9
RepublicanNathan Dahm20,84320.2
RepublicanDanny Stockstill8,0867.8
Total votes103,330 100.0
Republican primary runoff results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Kevin Hern 40,373 54.9
RepublicanTim Harris33,13845.1
Total votes73,511 100.0
Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Kevin Hern 150,129 59.3
DemocraticTim Gilpin103,04240.7
Total votes253,171 100.0
Republican hold
Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district, 2020
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Kevin Hern 213,700 63.70
DemocraticKojo Asamoa-Caesar109,64132.68
IndependentEvelyn L. Rogers12,1303.62
Total votes335,471 100.0
Republican hold

Personal life

Hern and his wife, Tammy, have three children and two grandchildren.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b Hardiman, Samuel (August 5, 2016). “5 Questions with Kevin Hern, McDonald’s franchisee | 5 Questions”. Tulsa World. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  2. ^ “Dover native receives Congressional GOP nomination in Oklahoma”. Couriernews.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  3. ^ World, Randy Krehbiel Tulsa. “Tim Harris, Kevin Hern headed to 1st Congressional District runoff; Democrats also going to second round”. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  4. ^ “Rare runoffs to decide 1st Congressional District nominees | Homepagelatest”. tulsaworld.com. August 26, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  5. ^ “Kevin Hern beats Tim Harris for Congressional 1st District Republican nomination”. tulsaworld.com. August 28, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  6. ^ “Kevin Hern beats Tim Gilpin to replace Jim Bridenstine in Congress”. Tulsa World. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  7. ^ Sweeney, Catherine (November 8, 2018). “Hern taking office ahead of freshman congressional class”. The Journal Record.
  8. ^ “New 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern sworn in | Government”. tulsaworld.com. January 1, 1970. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  9. ^ Hamburger, Tom; Gregg, Aaron; Narayanswamy, Anu (July 8, 2020). “After railing against federal spending, GOP lawmakers, conservative groups benefit from government aid program”. Washington Post. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  10. ^ Syed, Moiz; Willis, Derek. “KTAK CORPORATION I – Coronavirus Bailouts – ProPublica”. ProPublica. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  11. ^ a b “Treasury, SBA data show small-business loans went to private-equity backed chains, members of Congress”. The Washington Post. 2020.
  12. ^ Blood, Michael R.; Riccardi, Nicholas (December 5, 2020). “Biden officially secures enough electors to become president”. AP News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  13. ^ Liptak, Adam (December 11, 2020). “Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  14. ^ “Order in Pending Case” (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. December 11, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  15. ^ Diaz, Daniella. “Brief from 126 Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit in Supreme Court”. CNN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  16. ^ Quarshie, Mabinty (August 17, 2021). “These 16 Republicans voted against speeding up visas for Afghans fleeing the Taliban”. USA Today. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  17. ^ “Text – H.R.1865 – 116th Congress (2019-2020): Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020”. December 20, 2019.
  18. ^ “Roll Call 689 Roll Call 689, Bill Number: H. R. 1865, 116th Congress, 1st Session”. December 17, 2019.
  19. ^ “H.R. 1158: DHS Cyber Hunt and Incident Response Teams Act … — House Vote #690 — Dec 17, 2019”.
  20. ^ “Member List”. Republican Study Committee. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  21. ^ “Quick 5: Congressional District 1 candidates answer questions”. Muskogee Phoenix. Retrieved January 27, 2019.

External links

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by

 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district
2018–present		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by

 United States representatives by seniority
288th		Succeeded by


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Hern