Oklahoma pastor drops out of House race after Trump unendorsed his campaign

Jackson Lahmeyer, a Republican pastor who on Tuesday night advanced to a runoff election in Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, dropped out of the race after President Donald Trump withdrew his endorsement and backed his 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. “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.” The statement came minutes after Trump, in a post on Truth Social, thanked Lahmeyer for his “hard work under difficult circumstances,” but added, “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!” The president’s endorsement change and Lahmeyer’s decision to drop out came after last-minute allegations surfaced that the Oklahoma pastor had previously exchanged inappropriate text messages with a woman who was not his wife. A series of reports over the last few days in The Daily Mail quotes Caitlin Simmons Key, a former Miss Oklahoma USA, who said she worked on Lahmeyer’s campaign, claiming that she and Lahmeyer exchanged suggestive text messages, including one in which the candidate told her “I enjoyed those lips.” Lahmeyer vaguely addressed the allegations in a post on social media over the weekend, saying that “this matter was already dealt with privately between me and my wife,” adding “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.” He went on to suggest that the “political establishment who oppose my America First Candidacy” could “attempt to make more of this than it is.” Trump first endorsed Lahmeyer, who founded a “Pastors for Trump” group, in a Truth Social post on Sunday, calling him a “MAGA warrior.” Lahmeyer’s decision to drop out of the race clears the way for Tedford to win the GOP nomination in this heavily Republican district. Prior to Lahmeyer’s withdrawal, Tedford had been endorsed by Oklahoma State House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and others. The district’s incumbent congressman, GOP Rep. Kevin Hern, on Tuesday won the state’s Republican primary for Senate.