The last couple months were just the warmup round in the race for Oklahoma’s next governor. Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Mike Mazzei, the Tulsa-based financial adviser and former state senator, will face off again in the Aug. 25 runoff election.
Drummond fronted $2.5 million to his campaign. Mazzei put $10.9 million toward his campaign and received President Donald Trump’s endorsement — but that wasn’t enough for him to win outright. Candidates needed a simple majority of the votes in the primary to avoid the August runoff.
“I anticipated overcoming a Trump endorsement, I anticipated overcoming a weak candidate who flips,” Drummond said to media after his watch party Tuesday night. “Not every voter is going to agree with me, but every voter can, rest assured, they know where I stand, and I put Oklahoma first.”
With 99% of precincts reporting by the end of the night, less than 0.5% of votes separated the two in the nine-person race for the Republican nomination. Drummond finished with a slight lead — just more than 26% compared to just less than 26% for Mazzei.
Chip Keating, the self-proclaimed “outsider” whose father was Oklahoma’s 25th governor, earned just 18% of the vote.
“Now with the runoff election, there’s a clear difference between Mr. Drummond and me: I am the complete and total endorsement of President Donald Trump,” Mazzei said. “I’m running for governor to move Oklahoma in a more conservative direction.”
Cyndi Munson, Oklahoma House minority leader, won the Democratic primary election for governor. She ran away with the race early, defeating former state Sen. Connie Johnson by more than 75% of the votes.
The Republican candidates campaigned on key issues including lowering the cost of living and taxes. Both Drummond and Mazzei want to get rid of the state income tax, but Drummond says they need to find a new way to recover that money first.
On the other side, Munson has it on her agenda to increase public school investments, lower healthcare costs and repeal Oklahoma’s abortion ban.
The winner of the Aug. 25 GOP runoff will face Munson and independents Robert E. Brooks, Orlando Lynn Bush and Jerry Griffin in the Nov. 3 general election.
Read the Tulsa Flyer voter guide for the latest information, as well as how to register to vote in the next election.
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