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An Oklahoma pastor running for Congress dropped out of the race only a day after advancing to a runoff amid a text-messaging scandal.Jackson Lahmeyer, who was running as a Republican in Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, advanced to the Republican primary on Tuesday, June 16, but dropped out on Wednesday, June 17, amid the scandal."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 his since-deleted X account. “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."Lahmeyer, who started the organization Pastors for Trump, received an endorsement from President Donald Trump back in May and saw the president reiterating his support for the then-candidate on Monday, June 16, ahead of Tuesday’s primary.“It is my Great Honor to endorse MAGA Warrior, Jackson Lahmeyer, who is running to represent the fantastic people of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, and has been with me from the very beginning of our Movement to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump said.Trump pulls endorsementBut hours before Lahmeyer dropped out of the race, Trump pulled his endorsement, instead putting his support behind Mark Tedford, who was the top-vote getter in Tuesday’s Republican primary."I greatly appreciate Jackson Lahmeyer's hard work under difficult circumstances — He has always been with me, and I will always be with him. But, when it comes to the current Congressional race for Oklahoma's 1st Congressional District, I will be supporting America First Patriot, Mark Tedford,” Trump said on Truth Social.What is Lahmeyer alleged to have done?Lahmeyer has seen himself embroiled in controversy after The Daily Mail published text threads alleged to be between Lahmeyer and Caitlin Key, Miss Oklahoma USA 2007.The Daily Mail reported that Key worked as a fundraiser for Lahmeyer's congressional campaign. She told the news outlet that they met in 2022, when the minister was in the midst of his ultimately unsuccessful challenge of incumbent U.S. Sen. James Lankford. According to the Daily Mail report, the preacher and Key exchanged a series of text messages in the spring of 2026 that his wife eventually read.In one of the text messages, Lahmeyer calls Key "very cute." She responded with "The question is, why are you texting me when you are at a fancy party at Maralago?" Lahmeyer texts back: "I like texting you lol."Following the publishing of the piece, Lahmeyer issued a statement, saying he had crossed “a boundary through text messaging.""I own crossing a boundary line through text messaging. I also ended all communication. The British Tabloid tried to paint me out in a way which is not the case,” he said in a post on X.Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
