Kevin Hern

Kevin Ray Hern (born December 4, 1961) is an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma.

A Republican, he is a member of the United States House of Representatives for OK's 1st congressional district.

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.

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 before returning to Arkansas to work for McDonald's the following year.

He left his degree program without finishing after the Challenger disaster in 1986.

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 1997 he bought his first McDonald's franchise and in 1999 he earned his MBA degree from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.

In January 1997, he bought his first McDonald's, in North Little Rock.

After moving to Oklahoma in 1999, Hern expanded his McDonald's franchises, eventually owning 18 franchises in the Tulsa metropolitan area.

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

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, he ran his first campaign for office and was elected to the United States House of Representatives.

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.

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."

After Jim Bridenstine resigned from the United States House of Representatives in 2018 to become administrator of NASA, Hern ran to succeed him in OK'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.

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.

Hern was a leading figure in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 United States presidential election.

In December 2020, Hern signed 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.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution.

Hern became the chair of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative Republicans in the House, in 2023.

In the January 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, Hern was nominated for Speaker of the House as a protest candidate against Kevin McCarthy.

During the October 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election Hern initially announced he would seek the nomination, before withdrawing from the race against Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan.

On October 20, 2023, he again announced his candidacy for Speaker of the House after the withdrawal of Scalise and Jordan.

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.

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.