Oklahoma pastor drops out of House race amid texting scandal

An Oklahoma Republican pastor ended his run for Congress on Wednesday during a scandal over text messages he sent. Jackson Lahmeyer dropped out of the race a day after he advanced to a runoff election in Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District. He prayerfully decided to suspend his campaign because he did not want to be a distraction for his family or church, Lahmeyer said in a post from a since-deleted X.com account. Lahmeyer has worked as the lead pastor of nondenominational Sheridan Church in Tulsa, Okla., since 2017.

President Donald Trump previously endorsed Lahmeyer, who founded the group Pastors For Trump. Shortly after Lahmeyer withdrew his name from the race, Trump pulled his endorsement and backed Lahmeyer’s opponent, state Rep. Mark Tedford. While Tedford didn’t receive the majority of votes in Tuesday’s elections, he garnered more votes than any other candidate.

What was the texting scandal? The Daily Mail earlier this week published what it said was a text exchange between Lahmeyer and a former state beauty pageant winner, who is not his wife. The New York Post reported that the woman in question had raised funds for his political campaign. On Sunday, Lahmeyer said in a post that he had crossed a boundary through text messaging. He said the issue was being dealt with privately with his wife and spiritual counsel.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Rep. Eric Swalwell's decision to drop out of the run for Congress amid sexual misconduct allegations.