A President Trump-backed candidate in Oklahoma is suddenly out of the race.
Jackson Lahmeyer, the pastor who founded Pastors for Trump, suspended his campaign for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District just one day after advancing to a Republican runoff.
That is a very fast reversal.
On Tuesday night, Lahmeyer was still being presented as the Trump-backed candidate moving forward. By Wednesday, President Trump was publicly moving his support to Mark Tedford.
President Trump’s endorsement switch is here:
I greatly appreciate Jackson Lahmeyer’s hard work under difficult circumstances — He has always been with me, and I will always be with him. But, when it comes to the current Congressional race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, I will be supporting America First Patriot,… pic.twitter.com/VUVE8cEPMU
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) June 17, 2026
The national rundown from CBS News ties together the sudden timing.
Lahmeyer had just advanced to a runoff, but his campaign was already facing fallout over alleged text messages published earlier in the week. CBS also noted that it had not independently verified the messages.
Lahmeyer acknowledged that he had crossed a boundary through text messaging, then announced he was suspending the campaign and did not want to become a distraction to his family, church, or Oklahoma voters.
The local election context from Tulsa Flyer captures the whiplash.
Tedford and Lahmeyer were headed toward a GOP runoff after Tuesday’s special primary, but Lahmeyer’s withdrawal appears to clear the Republican lane for Tedford in the deep-red Tulsa-area district.
America First Insight tracked the practical effect of the move this way:
Jackson Lahmeyer will be withdrawing from the race for the OK-01 Republican nomination, after advancing to the runoff.
This makes Mark Tedford the automatic GOP nominee for OK-01. pic.twitter.com/MKrQrwBwvV
— America First Insight (@AF_Insight) June 17, 2026
Oklahoma-focused coverage from NonDoc also framed the story as a post-primary endorsement flip.
The timing matters because the district is open after former Rep. Kevin Hern launched a Senate bid, making the Republican nomination the central prize in a heavily red seat.
For Lahmeyer, it is a brutal turn from Tuesday night to Wednesday afternoon.
For Tedford, it is the kind of endorsement reset that can change a race overnight.
And for the broader GOP field, this is a reminder that a candidate can go from Trump-backed frontrunner to out of the race in less than 24 hours when the story shifts under his feet.
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