Former NSC Chief of Staff Alex Gray considering Senate run

Another day, another name being tossed out for the special election to fill U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe's seat: Alex Gray, a former member of President Trump's national security staff. This seems to have first publicly surfaced on the Hugh Hewitt Show (you can listen to the 12 minute audio clip here).

I'll be honest, I've never heard of him before, so here's a brief bio on him from the American Foreign Policy Council, where he is a senior fellow in National Security Affairs:

Mr. Gray most recently served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House [September 2019 to January 2021], where he was responsible for the management of the National Security Advisor’s Front Office and the budget, security, and personnel functions of the NSC. Previously, Mr. Gray served as Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base at the White House National Economic Council (NEC). He was the principal Executive Office of the President official focused on the health and resiliency of the defense and manufacturing industrial base and U.S. maritime industry. Mr. Gray played a key role in Executive Order 13806, the first-ever whole-of-government assessment of the U.S. defense industrial base.

Additionally, Mr. Gray was the Director for Oceania & Indo-Pacific Security at the NSC, the first NSC Director ever focused primarily on Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. [...] Earlier in his career, Mr. Gray was a Member of the 2016 Presidential Transition Team at the U.S. Department of State and served as Senior Advisor to former U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes, a senior Member of the House Armed Services Committee.

He did his first year of college at Oklahoma State, and worked for Congressman Tom Cole for a time before his position in the Trump administration, per his comments on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

Here is the initial Tweet that I saw mentioning Gray on the Hewitt program:

👀 #OKsen - notable discussion between Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) and fmr NSC Chief of Staff Alex Gray —> https://t.co/hmuOeC23Dl #Oklahoma

— Gregory Smith (@GsmittySmith) March 3, 2022

He would join a crowded field, officially including Congressman Markwayne Mullin, State Senator Nathan Dahm, Inhofe's personal anointed chief of staff Luke Holland, as well as at least the following who are considering running: former Congressman J.C. Watts, former Trump ambassador Kyle McCarter, former State House Speaker T.W. Shannon, and former State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft.