Kevin Hern

Kevin Ray Hern (born December 4, 1961) is an American politician and businessman from Oklahoma. A Republican, he has been a member of the United States House of Representatives for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district since 2018.

Born in Missouri and raised in Pope County, Arkansas, Hern graduated from Arkansas Tech University in 1986 and briefly attended the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1997 he bought his first McDonald's franchise and in 1999 he earned his MBA degree from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. After moving to Oklahoma in 1999, Hern expanded his McDonald's franchises, eventually owning 18 franchises in the Tulsa metropolitan area.

Hern was first elected to Congress in 2018, and was re-elected in 2020, 2022, and 2024. He became the chair of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative group of Republicans, in 2023. In the January 2023 election for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Hern was nominated as a protest candidate against Kevin McCarthy. After McCarthy was removed as speaker, Hern was briefly one of the candidates in the October 2023 elections to replace him.

Following the resignation of Senator Markwayne Mullin to become U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Hern announced his candidacy for the 2026 United States Senate election in Oklahoma.

Born on an Air Force base in western Missouri, Hern moved to Pope County with his mother, Freda Flansburg, and younger brother after his parents separated. He graduated from Dover High School in 1980 and Arkansas Tech University in 1986 before working at Rockwell International while pursuing a PhD in astronautical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He left his degree program without finishing after the Challenger disaster in 1986.

Hern received his MBA from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, in 1999.

In 1987, Hern moved to Arkansas and went to work for McDonald's; within a few years, he was an operations manager for several McDonald's franchises in the Little Rock area. In January 1997, he bought his first McDonald's, in North Little Rock. He sold that 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. In 2018, during his first campaign for office, The Frontier coined the nickname "McCongressman" for Hern in reference to his McDonald's franchises. The nickname was subsequently picked up by other outlets after his election. He sold his last McDonald's franchise in 2021.

In addition to his restaurant holdings, Hern started a number of other business enterprises in Oklahoma, including a hog farm, a community bank, and several high-school sports publications. In 2019, he owned a company that manufactured decor and furniture for some of the largest U.S. fast-food restaurant companies and was the wealthiest serving congressman from Oklahoma. In 2023 he had assets worth between $36 million and $110 million.

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." KTAK operates franchises. During the Paycheck Protection Program negotiations, Hern pushed to increase the amount of aid going to franchises. Hern was ranked number 7 in the United States House of Representatives by total number of stock trades while in office between January 2020 and January 2022 and violated the STOCK Act in 2021 by failing to properly disclose stock trades worth up to $2.7 million. As of October 2025, Hern's net worth was estimated to be over $108 million.

In October 2025, Hern was rumored to be a candidate for president of the University of Tulsa.

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, where he defeated Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris. He then advanced to the general election, where he defeated Democratic nominee Tim Gilpin. Outgoing Governor Mary Fallin then appointed Hern to serve the rest 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.

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

Hern ran for a third term in 2022, despite speculation that he might run for the open Senate seat being vacated by Jim Inhofe. Hern defeated Democratic nominee Adam Martin and Independent Evelyn L. Rogers in the November general election.

Hern ran for a fourth term in 2024 facing a primary challenge from Paul Royse. He won the primary election with 87% of the vote. He faced Democratic nominee Dennis Baker and independent Mark Sanders in the general election.

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 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. He also was among 147 congressional Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results. In 2022, Hern was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior. In 2023, Hern was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.

Following President Trump's announcement that he was nominating Markwayne Mullin to be the secretary of Homeland Security, Hern announced that he would run for Mullin's Senate seat (the seat was originally held by former Senator Jim Inhofe) in the 2026 election. In March 2026, Trump endorsed Hern.

During his political career Hern has positioned himself close to Donald Trump and emphasized his own business experience.

Hern has called current welfare spending "tragic". He is a strong supporter of work requirements for welfare programs and credits his support of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to its work requirement.

Hern opposes extending tax credits for the Affordable Care Act.

Hern opposes ranked-choice primary voting.

Hern has expressed skepticism that humans are causing climate change.

Hern and his wife, Tammy, have three children and four grandchildren. It is his second marriage.