Trump-Backed Mazzei Wins Oklahoma GOP Governor Nomination in Tight Runoff

Mike Mazzei, a former Oklahoma state senator and Tulsa businessman, won the Republican nomination for Oklahoma governor on August 25, 2026, defeating state Attorney General Gentner Drummond in a Republican primary runoff. President Donald Trump had endorsed Mazzei and publicly criticized Drummond on social media in the lead-up to the vote, a factor multiple outlets said contributed to the outcome. The race was tight, with one source reporting Mazzei's margin of victory at approximately 2,000 votes. Results were expected to be finalized by late Tuesday night, according to election officials, and NBC News and other outlets subsequently projected Mazzei as the winner. The runoff was held alongside other Oklahoma primary contests, including races for state superintendent, labor commissioner, and insurance commissioner, though specific results in those races were not corroborated across multiple sources. On the Democratic side, one source reported that Jasmine Thomas defeated Jim Priest for the party's U.S. Senate nomination, though this claim was not independently confirmed by a second outlet. Politico characterized Mazzei's win as a relief for Trump after several of his endorsed candidates lost primaries in other states during the same election cycle. Mazzei's win secures him a position as the Republican nominee for Oklahoma governor, setting up a general election campaign. The precise final vote count and certified margin between Mazzei and Drummond were not consistently detailed across reports, with only one outlet providing a specific figure. Details of the general election matchup, including the Democratic nominee for governor, were not addressed in the available reporting.