Pastors for Trump founder drops congressional bid amid sexting scandal with former Miss Oklahoma: Distraction
A day after advancing to a Republican runoff, megachurch pastor Jackson Lahmeyer suspended his congressional campaign on Wednesday amid a flirtatious texting scandal with a former Miss Oklahoma.Lahmeyer, who is married with five children, received President Trump’s backing, but also faced a firestorm over his past flirtatious messages with the beauty queen, one of his former staffers.“After prayerful consideration with my wife, Kendra, and my team over the last twenty four hours, I’ve made the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for Congress,” Lahmeyer said in a statement.“I do not want to be a distraction to my family, my church, and the great people of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, who deserve a strong conservative voice representing them in Washington.”Just prior to suspending his campaign, Trump took to Truth Social and switched his endorsement to Oklahoma state Rep.Mark Tedford.Tedford had topped Lahmeyer in the first round, with 32% support, compared to the pastor’s 26%.
The seat had been held by Rep.Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), who is vying for Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s old Senate seat.“I greatly appreciate Jackson Lahmeyer’s hard work under difficult circumstances,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“[W]hen it comes to the current Congressional race for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, I Will be supporting America First Patriot, Mark Tedford.Mark is Pro-Trump and MAGA all the way!”The president had initially backed Lahmeyer, citing his work co-founding the Pastors for Trump religious leader coalition in 2022.But the Daily Mail published a piece on Sunday detailing how Lahmeyer, a self-described “MAGA Warrior,” sent racy text messages to former Miss Oklahoma USA Caitlin Simmons Key — one of his former campaign fundraisers.The report included messages inviting her to his hotel room and visiting a strip club around 1 a.m.
Key used to be a fundraiser for his campaign.In one message, he wrote...