{"id":2246,"date":"2026-06-18T09:03:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T09:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2246"},"modified":"2026-06-18T09:03:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T09:03:33","slug":"oklahoma-pastor-who-was-backed-by-trump-exits-gop-house-runoff-after-reports-of-inappropriate-texts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2246","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma pastor who was backed by Trump exits GOP House runoff after reports of inappropriate texts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(AP) – Jackson Lahmeyer, an Oklahoma megachurch minister who founded Pastors for Trump, has withdrawn from a runoff for a U.S. House seat from Oklahoma, following reports that he had sent romantic text messages to a woman who is not his wife.<\/p>\n

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A day after advancing to the August runoff, Lahmeyer issued a statement on Wednesday saying that he had made the \u201cdifficult decision\u201d to suspend his campaign \u201cafter prayerful consideration with my wife, Kendra, and my team over the last twenty four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not want to be a distraction to my family, my church, and the great people of Oklahoma\u2019s 1st Congressional District, who deserve a strong conservative voice representing them in Washington,\u201d Lahmeyer added.<\/p>\n

Lahmeyer\u2019s email statement announcing his withdrawal hit inboxes just minutes after President Donald Trump endorsed his runoff opponent, Mark Tedford.<\/p>\n

\u201cI greatly appreciate Jackson Lahmeyer\u2019s hard work under difficult circumstances,\u201d Trump wrote, going on to call Tedford \u2014 a state representative in Oklahoma \u2014 \u201cPro Trump and MAGA all the way!\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Monday, a day before Oklahoma\u2019s primary, Trump had reiterated his support for Lahmeyer, whom he initially endorsed last month, commending him for founding Pastors for Trump. The nationwide faith leader coalition was among the groups that worked to boost Trump in his 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n

The Daily Mail reported Sunday that Lahmeyer 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 his behavior in a now-deleted social media post, saying the matter \u201cwas already dealt with privately\u201d and that he owned \u201ccrossing a boundary line through text messaging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lahmeyer\u2019s campaign did not immediately return a message seeking answers as to whether he had spoken with Trump before shuttering his campaign, or why he had deleted his social media accounts.<\/p>\n

On the website for Sheridan Church, the Tulsa congregation that Lahmeyer pastors, he is listed as part of the lineup of an event called Remnant Rising. Other speakers include Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump\u2019s former national security adviser who pleaded guilty during the Republican\u2019s first term to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a top Russian diplomat and was later pardoned.<\/p>\n

Read more FACT FINDERS: E-bike accidents on rise in Arizona as riders, drivers navigate traffic laws<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http:\/\/x.com\/MegKinnardAP<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Oklahoma megachurch minister has withdrawn from a U.S. House runoff after reports that he sent romantic texts to a woman who isn’t his wife. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nOklahoma pastor who was backed by Trump exits GOP House runoff after reports of inappropriate texts - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2246\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oklahoma pastor who was backed by Trump exits GOP House runoff after reports of inappropriate texts - 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