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Lahmeyer suspends bid
Jackson Lahmeyer, an Oklahoma megachurch minister who founded Pastors for Trump, suspended his campaign for a U.S. House seat from Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District one day after advancing to a runoff.
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In his Wednesday statement, Lahmeyer said, “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,” and added that he did not want to be a “distraction to my family, my church, and the great people of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District.”
The decision followed reports that Lahmeyer sent romantic text messages to a woman who is not his wife, and the controversy surfaced just before the Republican primary.
The Washington Post reported that Lahmeyer admitted to “crossing a boundary line through text messaging” with his former staffer, while dismissing what he called a “distorted story from a British Tabloid.”
Trump flips endorsement
President Donald Trump rescinded his endorsement of Lahmeyer on Wednesday, posting that he would now be supporting Mark Tedford in the race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District.
Trump wrote, “I greatly appreciate Jackson Lahmeyer’s hard work under difficult circumstances,” and added, “But, when it comes to the current Congressional race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, I will be supporting America First Patriot, Mark Tedford.”
Lahmeyer said in a statement to Newsweek that his decision to drop out was not because of Trump’s switch, telling the outlet, “My decision did not take place because of the decision of POTUS this afternoon.”
CBS News reported that Trump posted on social media that he would support Tedford, and that Lahmeyer dropped out shortly afterward, leaving Tedford to advance to the general election in November.
Runoff and political fallout
With Lahmeyer out, Mark Tedford advanced to the general election in November after the texting scandal derailed Lahmeyer’s campaign.
“Pastors for Trump founder Jackson Lahmeyer on Wednesday announced he was ending his bid for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, one day after he was projected to advance to a runoff for the Republican nomination in the wake of a texting scandal”
The Hill reported that both Lahmeyer and Tedford advanced to an Aug. 25 runoff for the seat represented by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), but Lahmeyer’s withdrawal left Tedford as the Republican nominee.
CBS News said the seat is open after Rep. Kevin Hern decided to run for the U.S. Senate, and it reported that Tedford will face Democrat John Croissant, a Tulsa Public Schools board member, in November.
The Roys Report described Lahmeyer as 34 and said he received 25.9% of ballots in the Republican primary, while Tedford received 32.2%, setting up the runoff that Lahmeyer ultimately exited.
