Markwayne Mullin

Markwayne Mullin (born July 26, 1977) is an American politician, businessman, and former professional mixed martial arts fighter who has been the U.S. Representative for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district since January 2013. A Republican, he succeeded blue dog Democrat Dan Boren.

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mullin is one of four Native American members of the 116th Congress.

Mullin was born on July 26, 1977 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He graduated from Stilwell High School in Stilwell, Oklahoma. He attended Missouri Valley College in 1996, but did not graduate. In 2010, Mullin received an associate in applied sciences degree in construction technology from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology.

Mullin took over his family's business, Mullin Plumbing, at the age of twenty, when his father fell ill. He also owns Mullin Properties, Mullin Farms, and Mullin Services.

He hosted House Talk, a home improvement radio program, on Tulsa station KFAQ and syndicated across Oklahoma.

2012 election

In June 2011, incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Dan Boren announced that he would to retire at the end of 2012. In September 2011, Mullin declared his candidacy for the 2012 elections to the United States House of Representatives to represent Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district. Mullin branded himself as an outsider; his campaign slogan was "A rancher. A businessman. Not a politician!"

In the six-candidate Republican primary, Mullin finished first with 42% of the vote; state representative George Faught ranked second with 22% of the vote. In the run-off primary election, Mullin defeated Faught 57%–43%.

The 2nd District has historically been a classic "Yellow Dog" Democratic district. However, it has steadily trended Republican, as Tulsa's suburbs have spilled into the northern portion of the district. For these reasons, Mullin was thought to have a good chance of winning the election. In the general election, Mullin defeated the Democratic candidate, Rob Wallace, a former district attorney, 57%–38%. He became the first Republican to represent the district since Tom Coburn in 2001, and only the second since 1921.

Miami Tribe revocation

On February 5, 2014, Mullin introduced the bill To revoke the charter of incorporation of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the request of that tribe (H.R. 4002; 113th Congress), which would accept the request of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to revoke the charter of incorporation issued to that tribe and ratified by its members on June 1, 1940.

2016 election

In the June 2016 Republican primary, Mullin defeated Jarrin Jackson by 27 percentage points. In the November general election, he defeated Democrat Joshua Harris-Till by 67 percentage points.

2017 town hall comments

In April 2017, Mullin drew criticism when he was recorded during a town hall meeting telling his constituents that it was "bullcrap" that taxpayers pay his salary. He said, "I pay for myself. I paid enough taxes before I got here and continue to through my company to pay my own salary. This is a service. No one here pays me to go."

Fourth term

When he first ran for Congress in 2012, Mullin promised to serve for only three terms (six years).However, in July 2017, Mullin released an eleven-minute video announcing that he would indeed run for a fourth term in 2018, saying he was ill-advised when he made the promise to only serve three terms.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Caucus memberships

• Republican Study Committee
• Congressional Western Caucus

Mullin and his wife, Christie, live in Westville, a few miles from the Arkansas border, and have five children.He is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, and is one of four Native Americans in the 116th Congress. The others are fellow Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole, a Chickasaw, and Democrats Sharice Davids of Kansas, a Ho-Chunk, and Deb Haaland of New Mexico, a Laguna Pueblo.