Oklahoma pastor who was backed by Trump exits GOP House runoff after reports of inappropriate texts

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Jackson Lahmeyer, an Oklahoma megachurch minister who founded Pastors for Trump, has withdrawn from a runoff for a U.S. House seat from Oklahoma, following reports that he had sent romantic text messages to a woman who is not his wife.

A day after advancing to the August runoff, Lahmeyer issued a statement on Wednesday saying that he had made the “difficult decision” to suspend his campaign “after prayerful consideration with my wife, Kendra, and my team over the last twenty four hours."

“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.

Lahmeyer’s email statement announcing his withdrawal hit inboxes just minutes after President Donald Trump endorsed his runoff opponent, Mark Tedford.

“I greatly appreciate Jackson Lahmeyer’s hard work under difficult circumstances,” Trump wrote, going on to call Tedford — a state representative in Oklahoma — “Pro Trump and MAGA all the way!”

On Monday, a day before Oklahoma's primary, Trump had reiterated his support for Lahmeyer, whom he initially endorsed last month, commending him for founding Pastors for Trump. The nationwide faith leader coalition was among the groups that worked to boost Trump in his 2024 campaign.

The Daily Mail reported Sunday that Lahmeyer had exchanged thousands of romantic text messages with a woman who worked as a fundraiser for his campaign. Multiple news organizations reported that Lahmeyer acknowledged his behavior in a now-deleted social media post, saying the matter “was already dealt with privately” and that he owned “crossing a boundary line through text messaging.”

Lahmeyer's campaign did not immediately return a message seeking answers as to whether he had spoken with Trump before shuttering his campaign, or why he had deleted his social media accounts.

On the website for Sheridan Church, the Tulsa congregation that Lahmeyer pastors, he is listed as part of the lineup of an event called Remnant Rising. Other speakers include Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser who pleaded guilty during the Republican’s first term to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a top Russian diplomat and was later pardoned.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP