Jackson Lahmeyer, a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in Oklahoma, dropped out of the race Wednesday after President Donald Trump rescinded his endorsement and supported Lahmeyer's opponent. File Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI | License Photo
June 17 (UPI) -- Shortly after President Donald Trump rescinded his endorsement of Jackson Lahmeyer, a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives from Oklahoma, Lahmeyer dropped out of the race, saying he didn't want to be "a distraction."
"After prayerful consideration with my wife, Kendra, and my team over the past 24 hours, I've made the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for Congress," Lahmeyer said in a statement, CNN reported. "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 Congress."
Trump endorsed Lahmeyer, a right-wing megachurch pastor and founder for Pastors for Trump, before Tuesday's primary, after which the candidate was expected to advance to a runoff for the Republican nomination against Rep. Mark Tedford.
On Sunday, however, The Daily Mail published texts between Lahmeyer and a former Miss Oklahoma pageant winner in which the candidate called her "cute" and mentioned an invitation to his hotel room, The New York Times reported. Lahmeyer acknowledged sending the messages but said they were "carefully cherry-picked," the Times said.
