Lahmeyer exits Oklahoma House race after texting scandal

Jackson Lahmeyer, a Republican pastor and founder of Pastors for Trump, suspended his campaign for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District on Wednesday, one day after advancing to a GOP runoff and minutes after President Donald Trump shifted his endorsement to Lahmeyer’s opponent, state Rep. Mark Tedford.

“After prayerful consideration with my wife, Kendra, and my team over the last twenty four hours, I’ve made the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for Congress,” Lahmeyer said in a statement posted on social media. “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.”

Lahmeyer added, according to The Guardian: “I sincerely appreciate all the support along the way. I will never forget those who stood by me and fought alongside us when I needed them the most.”

The withdrawal followed reports by the Daily Mail alleging that Lahmeyer exchanged inappropriate or intimate text messages with a woman who was not his wife. NBC News reported that the woman, Caitlin Simmons Key, a former Miss Oklahoma USA, said she worked on Lahmeyer’s campaign and claimed she and Lahmeyer exchanged suggestive messages, including one in which he told her, “I enjoyed those lips.” CBS News reported that the Daily Mail published what it said were messages in which Lahmeyer called her “very cute” and sent a selfie while at a party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The messages were also viewed by CBS Tulsa affiliate KOTV, though CBS News said it had not independently verified them.

Lahmeyer addressed the reports over the weekend, calling the story “distorted” and referring to the Daily Mail as a “British Tabloid,” while acknowledging that he had “crossing a boundary line through text messaging.”

“This matter was already dealt with privately between me and my wife, Kendra, through counsel and prayer with God and spiritual advisors,” Lahmeyer wrote Sunday on social media. “I own crossing a boundary line through text messaging. I also ended all communication. The British Tabloid tried to paint me out in a way which is not the case.”

NBC News reported that Lahmeyer also suggested that the “political establishment who oppose my America First Candidacy” could “attempt to make more of this than it is.”

Trump first endorsed Lahmeyer in May, and NBC News reported that Trump called him a “MAGA warrior” in a Truth Social post on Sunday. CBS News reported that Trump reiterated his support Monday before the primary and posted a graphic Tuesday night noting Lahmeyer’s advancement to a runoff with the words “endorsed by Trump.”

On Wednesday, Trump changed course.

“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 on Truth Social. “But, when it comes to the current Congressional race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, I will be supporting America First Patriot, Mark Tedford. Mark is Pro Trump and MAGA all the way!”

Lahmeyer suspended his campaign shortly afterward. His departure clears the way for Tedford, the top vote-getter in Tuesday’s primary, to advance as the Republican candidate for the November general election. NBC News described the district as heavily Republican and reported that Tedford had been endorsed by Oklahoma State House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and others before Lahmeyer dropped out.

The seat is open because Republican Rep. Kevin Hern chose to run for the U.S. Senate. NBC News reported that Hern won Oklahoma’s Republican Senate primary on Tuesday.