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Trump endorsed former Oklahoma state Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-Bixby, and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond to advance to the August 25 runoff in the Sooner State’s Republican gubernatorial primary, defeating a number of other contenders to replace Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Stitt — who recently became the top Republican in the National Governors Association — was limited.
Trump called Mazzei a “MAGA hero” who “will never let you down,” throwing an already crowded race into further uncertainty.
Until then, Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Mazzei had been feuding with businessman Chip Keating and former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Tishomingo.
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President Donald Trump wrote that both Florida House seats were clearly won by the Republican candidate, saying that Trump’s endorsement proved more influential than the Democratic opposition.
Trump noted that he “won big” in Oklahoma — which, along with West Virginia, is one of two states without green districts in the election results.
Mazzei is running on top issues, including ending the state property tax, protecting state lands from foreign buyers, increasing the state’s literacy rate, and cutting waste and abuse in government.
In this regard, Stitt appointed Mazzei as the state’s budget director for part of his term.
Some critics targeted Mazzei for hiring former Nixon campaign and Trump associate Roger Stone as a political consultant during his campaign.
Stone, one of the most successful law enforcement officers of the 20th century, became so famous that his Fort Lauderdale home was raided in the middle of the night by the FBI while CNN waited and filmed, causing a national uproar.
“Roger Stone is one of the many political advisers and partners that we’ve turned back for months and months and months,” Mazzei told the ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City.
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Oklahoma State Attorney Mike Mazzei speaks to reporters. (Nathan Fish/IMAGN)
“And, of course, it helps to have someone on your team who knows what’s going on in Washington, D.C. And the aspects of Trump’s agenda and how they fit with the Oklahoma agenda.”
Drummond pursues his strong criminal record as attorney general, immigration enforcement efforts, career as a military pilot and ties to Trump as described by Mazzei.
“When his nation called, Capt. Gentner Drummond bravely answered. Leading the first US combat mission of the Gulf War, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for “extraordinary achievement.” At the end of Operation Desert Storm, Capt. Drummond was one of the most decorated Oklahomans of the war,” a statement on his campaign website reads.
Drummond highlighted his efforts to combat the “enormous excesses of the Biden administration, including the failure of immigration” and policies that allow naturalized boys in girls’ sports.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond arrives to testify during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on “Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Affected Nations” in Washington on Jan. 10, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
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McCall ran on a platform of “family leadership, faith and morality,” and burned his credentials and record in the state legislature.
He wants to abolish both the state income tax and the estate tax, and put forward a conservative economic plan.
Keating, who also served on the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, noted on his campaign website that he is the only former law enforcement officer running for governor.
Keating has pushed a public safety-first platform that targets human trafficking, open borders and Antifa, which he describes as “domestic terrorists.”
