Jackson Lahmeyer is withdrawing from the race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District less than 24 hours after making the Republican runoff and three days after an article from the Daily Mail detailed extramarital flirtations with a former Miss Oklahoma.
Lahmeyer, a Tulsa-area pastor, finished the June 16 primary with 25.9 percent support (18,676 votes total). Rep. Mark Tedford led the 10-candidate CD 1 field with 32.2 percent support (23,217 votes).
A controversial figure since his 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, Lahmeyer announced his exit from the race around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday. In contrast to a triumphant Election Day press release declaring the “results showed career politicians cannot stop the MAGA movement,” the scandal revolving around the self-described “faith, family, freedom” candidate’s entanglement appears to have put the brakes on his political aspirations.
“After prayerful consideration with my wife, Kendra, and my team over the last 24 hours, I’ve made the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for Congress,” Lahmeyer said Wednesday afternoon. “I do not want to be a distraction to my family, my church, and the great people of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, who deserve a strong conservative voice representing them in Washington.”
NOTUS journalist Reese Gorman first reported Lahmeyer was weighing a pre-runoff exit Wednesday afternoon.
President Donald Trump, who had previously taken to Truth Social to reaffirm his endorsement of Lahmeyer after the scandalous Daily Mail article published, unceremoniously reversed his endorsement to support Tedford on Wednesday.
“I greatly appreciate Jackson Lahmeyer’s hard work under difficult circumstances — He has always been with me, and I will always be with him,” Trump wrote. “But, when it comes to the current Congressional race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, I will be supporting America First Patriot, Mark Tedford.”
On Monday, Lahmeyer called the Daily Mail reporting a “distorted story” and indicated he and his wife had dealt with the matter privately “through counsel and prayer with God and spiritual advisors.” He acknowledged that he crossed “a boundary line through text messaging” but did not indicate whether the relationship was physical, as some of the messages imply.
“My wife Kendra may have more to say on this subject in the coming days,” Lahmeyer ended his Monday statement.
Lahmeyer first entered the political arena via an unsuccessful run against U.S. Sen. James Lankford in 2022.
Other troubles have nipped at the embattled Lahmeyer’s heels throughout the election cycle, including calls for an IRS investigation into his Tulsa church potentially providing illegal support for his campaign and revelations that the Pastors for Trump group he founded in 2022 was never officially incorporated.
Under Title 26, Section 5-116 of state statute, if Lahmeyer files “a written notice of withdrawal as a candidate with the secretary of the election board” by 5 p.m. Friday, he would not appear on the Aug. 25 Republican runoff ballot in CD 1 against Tedford.
(Correction: This article was updated minutes after its posting, at 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, June 17, to correct reference to whether Lahmeyer will appear on the Aug. 25 ballot. NonDoc regrets the error.)
