Megachurch Minister Quits Oklahoma GOP House Runoff After Texts

Jackson Lahmeyer, a prominent Oklahoma megachurch minister and founder of Pastors for Trump, has withdrawn from a GOP runoff for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District seat after reports surfaced that he sent romantic texts to a woman who is not his wife. His e

By the time Jackson Lahmeyer’s email hit inboxes on Wednesday, the Oklahoma GOP runoff he had just advanced into was already collapsing.

Lahmeyer, a megachurch minister who founded Pastors for Trump, withdrew from the August runoff for a U.S. House seat from Oklahoma after reports surfaced that he sent romantic text messages to a woman who is not his wife. The decision arrived a day after he advanced to the runoff.

In a statement announcing his suspension. Lahmeyer described what he called a “difficult decision” to halt his campaign “after prayerful consideration with my wife. Kendra. and my team over the last twenty four hours.” He said he didn’t want to become “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.”.

His exit landed almost immediately after President Donald Trump endorsed Lahmeyer’s runoff opponent, Mark Tedford.

Trump’s endorsement came just minutes before Lahmeyer’s announcement. In a post, Trump wrote that he “greatly appreciate[d] Jackson Lahmeyer’s hard work under difficult circumstances,” and then praised Tedford—a state representative in Oklahoma—by describing him as “Pro Trump and MAGA all the way!”

The sequence has left Oklahoma Republicans staring at a painful reality: the campaign that was still moving forward a day earlier was suddenly gone, and it happened right as the White House was stepping in publicly on the other side of the matchup.

On Monday, the day before Oklahoma’s primary, Trump had reiterated his support for Lahmeyer. Trump initially endorsed Lahmeyer last month and commended him for founding Pastors for Trump, with the nationwide faith leader coalition among the groups that worked to boost him during the 2024 campaign.

The reporting that triggered Lahmeyer’s withdrawal began with a claim that he 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 the 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 respond to an inquiry seeking answers about whether he had spoken with Trump before shuttering his campaign, or why he deleted his social media accounts.

Even before the withdrawal, Lahmeyer’s ties to the megachurch world appeared to remain visible. On the website for Sheridan Church in Tulsa—where he 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.

For now. the runoff matchup has shifted from what looked like a faith-driven challenge aligned with Trump’s backing to a contest defined by one abrupt decision: a candidate who had been advancing—then. within hours of a presidential endorsement for his opponent—chose to step aside amid allegations tied to his private conduct.

Jackson Lahmeyer Pastors for Trump Oklahoma 1st Congressional District GOP runoff Mark Tedford Donald Trump endorsement Sheridan Church Remnant Rising Michael Flynn