U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern easily won the U.S. Senate Republican primary Tuesday, advancing to the Nov. 3 general election. Meanwhile, in the stacked race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, state Rep. Mark Tedford and Sheridan Church pastor Jackson Lahmeyer will head to a Republican runoff Aug. 25.
Just after 8 p.m. at the Tulsa County GOP office, Hern told media his run for Senate started eight years ago with the beginning of his tenure in Congress. It was former Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s appointment as Homeland Security secretary that opened the door for Hern’s primary victory Tuesday.
“As we’ve gone across the state for about 30 of the last 103 days, being home from Washington, D.C., we’ve taken our message, our record and continued across the state,” Hern said. “I think that’s why you see the outcome that you’ve seen now — overwhelming win across the state.”
With more than 90% of precincts reporting as of 9:30 p.m, Hern received more than 241,000 votes, making up 69% of the electorate. Gary Ty England came in a distant second with about 14%. Candidates needed a simple majority of the votes in the primary to avoid the August runoff.
In the Democratic race for Senate, nurse N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas and faith leader Jim Priest will advance to an August runoff. Thomas received about 44% of the votes to Priest’s 24%. The winner of the runoff will face Hern at the Nov. 3 general election.
The chance to fill Hern’s current seat representing Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District attracted 11 candidates to the Republican ticket. Lahmeyer walked into Election Day with an endorsement from President Donald Trump, but it wasn’t enough to win the primary outright. With 87% of precincts reporting as of 9:30 p.m., Tedford had the lead with almost 32% of votes to Lahmeyer’s almost 26%.
Days before the election, Lahmeyer found himself at the center of a story published by the Daily Mail. The story alleged the pastor exchanged flirtatious text messages with one of his campaign staffers in the months leading up to the primary election.
In a statement that same night, Lahmeyer called the article a “distorted story” but admitted to “crossing a boundary.”
“This matter was already dealt with privately between me and my wife, Kendra, through counsel and prayer with God and spiritual advisors,” Lahmeyer stated. “I own crossing a boundary line through text messaging. I also ended all communication. The British tabloid tried to paint me out in a way which is not the case…”
Late Tuesday at his Sheridan Church watch party, Lahmeyer addressed the controversy.
“The voters of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, they spoke, and they rejected the relentless attacks that have come upon me and my family over the last several days — and they’ve narrowed this race down to two,” Lahmeyer said.
Lahmeyer then thanked his wife for her support.
“I first want to thank Kendra (Lahmeyer), who has gone through a lot in these last couple of days,” Lahmeyer said. “You all know this about me, I am not a perfect man. I will reiterate that, but we will have a lot to address in the coming days as well.”
In Broken Arrow, Tedford took the stage at his watch party at Stoney Creek to thank his supporters.
“This is a hard-fought race with 11 candidates, and many people had strong opinions about its outcome,” he said. “But tonight’s result wasn’t about endorsements. Tonight’s result wasn’t about Washington. Tonight’s result was about the voters of Oklahoma’s 1st District.”
Claremore businessman Nathan Butterfield, Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Kim David and government affairs consultant Jed Cochran rounded out the top five in the CD-1 Republican primary Tuesday.
Lahmeyer and Tedford will meet again in the Aug. 25 runoff. The winner will face Democrat John Croisant in the general election. Croisant, a current Tulsa Public Schools board member, automatically won the Democratic nomination as no challengers filed for the primary.
For more Election Day results from the Tulsa Flyer, click here.
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