Trump-backed businessman Mike Mazzei looks to secure GOP nomination for Oklahoma governor

Tulsa businessman Mike Mazzei hopes to win Tuesday’s hotly contested Republican primary runoff for Oklahoma governor after President Donald Trump endorsed him and sharply attacked Mazzei’s rival, state Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

The contest between Mazzei and Drummond for the GOP nomination to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt — another Trump target — is the biggest one on the ballot in their deeply conservative state. Drummond finished first among the nine candidates in the first round of voting June 16, but only by about 1,100 ballots out of 403,000 cast, and both he and Mazzei received about 26% of the vote.

The winner will face Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson. A Democrat hasn’t won the governor’s race since 2006, and the GOP is heavily favored to keep the office in the November general election.

Mazzei, the 61-year-old founder of an investment management firm who served 12 years in the state Senate, received Trump’s endorsement in May. Trump has reaffirmed it several times on his Truth Social platform. In a lengthy post last week, Trump called Drummond a “FAKE Republican.”

Trump criticized Drummond for saying in a 2024 congressional hearing that he had no opinion on Trump’s 2021 impeachment after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. Drummond, a 62-year-old northern Oklahoma rancher and former Air Force pilot, was elected attorney general in 2022.

“You can forget about this guy — everybody I know dislikes him,” Trump said during a Monday evening call for Oklahoma Republicans. “Gentner Drummond does not stand for the values of Oklahoma, and he’s a guy that would be, I think, a disaster.”

Trump carried Oklahoma with more than 65% of the vote in each of his three races for president without losing a single county. Drummond has suggested that Mazzei received Trump’s endorsement for hiring a consulting firm operated by longtime Trump friend and adviser Roger Stone, with Mazzei’s campaign paying it $67,500, according to campaign finance records.

Both Trump and Drummond have criticized Stitt, who endorsed Mazzei. The departing governor drew Trump’s ire earlier this year while leading the National Governors Association in a dispute over invitations to White House events, with Trump attacking Stitt as a “RINO,” or “Republican in Name Only.” Drummond said in an interview with Oklahoma City’s KOCO-TV last month that under Stitt, the state had seen eight years of “mediocrity and flipping.”

“I respect the president,” Drummond said. “He’s a great leader.”

The 10-week runoff campaign has spawned more than $9 million in television and digital advertising, most of it from independent groups, according to the ad-track service AdImpact. That’s on top of the nearly $40 million spent in the governor’s race ahead of the runoff.

While Drummond has raised about $4.8 million more in cash contributions, Mazzei has funded his campaign largely through personal loans of at least $11.9 million. Drummond has loaned his campaign at least $3.5 million.