Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei has declined an invitation from NonDoc and KSWO to participate in a televised debate with opponent Gentner Drummond ahead of the Aug. 25 runoff election.
During a May 28 debate co-hosted by NonDoc and the Lawton-based TV station, Drummond and Mazzei each raised their hands in affirmation that they would participate in another debate if they made the runoff.
But Mazzei spokesman Hudson Talley said Monday that the former state senator would not have time to schedule a second debate in Lawton over the next seven weeks. Asked if Mazzei or anyone else wanted to comment on the decision, Talley did not provide a statement.
Drummond’s campaign manager, Matt Parker, said his candidate would honor the commitment to participate in another debate. He criticized Mazzei’s decision by saying “leadership requires courage.”
“Mike Mazzei is trying to run a basement campaign straight out of Joe Biden’s playbook,” Parker said in a statement. “As voters begin paying attention and realizing there is something not quite right about Mike Mazzei, he is withdrawing from forums, avoiding public scrutiny, and hiding from the very people whose votes he’s asking for. If he can’t handle tough questions on the campaign trail, how can Oklahomans trust him to handle the challenges facing our state? Gentner Drummond will continue showing up, taking questions, and making his case directly to voters.”
Mazzei endorsed by Trump, Stitt
Drummond and Mazzei finished about 1,100 votes apart atop the crowded June 16 GOP primary field. Both campaigns have touted polls showing them leading the runoff race, which is expected to feature lower turnout than the 359,871 Republicans who voted June 16.
In social media posts, Mazzei has emphasized his endorsement by President Donald Trump, who has also criticized Drummond for his opposition to the $5 billion aluminum smelter project proposed in Inola.
Mazzei, who said in March that he opposed the smelter, reversed course and announced his support for it May 29, hours before Trump endorsed him to be Oklahoma’s 29th governor.
In a Truth Social post two days after the primary, Trump praised Mazzei and panned Drummond:
I LOVE Oklahoma, and Mike has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for Governor! Meanwhile, his Runoff Election Opponent, Gentner Drummond, is a FAKE Republican. The Drummonds donated to SLEEPY Joe Biden, and the totally corrupt Lincoln Project, at levels that are shameful — Frankly, that makes him a Radical Left Dumocrat. Additionally, he wants to dethrone a magnificent, Job producing, desperately needed Aluminum Plant that will be one of the best projects ever conceived or built in the Great State of Oklahoma. The group that’s doing it is extraordinarily wealthy and, if they don’t do it in Oklahoma, they have 20 other sites that would love to have them. We need Aluminum for many reasons, we barely make it in the United States but, in particular, it’s all about National Security, and Oklahoma can lead the way. Very simply, Mike Mazzei is for this desperately needed Job Producer. Drummond, for his own reasons, is not.
Gov. Kevin Stitt has also endorsed Mazzei in the runoff after endorsing Chip Keating before the primary election.
Stitt has clashed with Drummond repeatedly the last three years, largely over questions about state-tribal relations and criminal jurisdiction in eastern Oklahoma. Stitt and Drummond have known each other for years and were members of the same fraternity at Oklahoma State University — Beta Theta Pi — albeit a decade apart.
“I was going to wait until the runoff just to let kind of the process work,” Stitt said during a speaking engagement in Duncan on July 2. “But Mike Mazzei is the guy that I think should be the next governor. And he is a little goofy, but he’s so smart. He’s an accountant type, and he’s served on my Cabinet as my budget secretary and really helped me with all of these things that we’re talking about. So he’s like a financial planner — super smart — and we want that type of person as running our $40 billion budget, not — in my opinion — like a trial attorney, right? Because people that sue farmers and ranchers, I don’t like that kind of stuff. We want a pro-business governor in there to take the lead for the next four years.”
Watch the May 28 GOP primary debate
