Mike Mazzei and Gentner Drummond advance to GOP runoff in Oklahoma governor contest

State Attorney General Gentner Drummond and former state Sen. Mike Mazzei will meet in a runoff for the Republican nomination for governor of Oklahoma, NBC News projects, after no candidate received majority support in Tuesday’s primary.

Drummond and Mazzei finished in the top two spots in a crowded field of nine GOP candidates on the ballot, with each getting about a quarter of the vote. While Drummond has won statewide office before, Mazzei got an endorsement from President Donald Trump on Truth Social, just over two weeks before primary day.

“It is my great Honor to endorse MAGA Warrior, Mike Mazzei, who is running for Governor of Oklahoma, a state which I love, and WON BIG,” Trump wrote.

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who was elected and re-elected in 2018 and 2022, is unable to run again due to term limits.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.Nick Oxford for NBC News

Mazzei’s campaign was funded in large part by his personal wealth. Mazzei has loaned nearly $7 million to his campaign out of a fundraising total of more than $11 million.

Drummond, an attorney and rancher from Hominy, started with significantly less than his counterpart, with a $2 million loan in April and an additional $500,000 more in late May. His campaign raised more than $340,000 in individual contributions since April, and $12,000 from political action committees.

Altogether, Republican candidates for governor have given or loaned themselves more than $22 million for the primary campaign, according to the Oklahoma Voice.

Before launching his gubernatorial bid, Mazzei served in the Oklahoma state Senate and worked as a financial planner. Throughout the campaign, he promoted his goals of eliminating state income taxes, expanding property tax relief for senior citizens and veterans and creating a literacy initiative for Oklahoma.

As attorney general, Drummond recently sued to block a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter project in Oklahoma, arguing it may harm the environment and agriculture. And Drummond has pushed back on his own party over attempts to integrate religion into schools.

He is also a rancher, U.S. Air Force veteran and banker from a prominent family. Ha has also been critical of Gov. Stitt’s relations with Indigenous tribes in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma has been a reliably Republican state in recent elections, with Trump winning every county in the state three times in a row and the GOP carrying Oklahoma in every presidential election since 1968.

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