Mike Mazzei and Gentner Drummond advance to GOP runoff in Oklahoma governor contest

State Attorney General Gentner Drummond and former state Sen. Mike Mazzei will meet in a runoff for the Republican nomination for governor of Oklahoma, NBC News projects, after no candidate received majority support in Tuesday’s primary.

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Drummond and Mazzei finished in the top two spots in a crowded field of nine GOP candidates on the ballot, with each getting about a quarter of the vote. While Drummond has won statewide office before, Mazzei got an endorsement from President Donald Trump on Truth Social , just over two weeks before primary day.

“It is my great Honor to endorse MAGA Warrior, Mike Mazzei, who is running for Governor of Oklahoma, a state which I love, and WON BIG,” Trump wrote.

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who was elected and re-elected in 2018 and 2022, is unable to run again due to term limits.

Mazzei’s campaign was funded in large part by his personal wealth. Mazzei has loaned nearly $7 million to his campaign out of a fundraising total of more than $11 million.

Drummond, an attorney and rancher from Hominy, started with significantly less than his counterpart, with a $2 million loan in April and an additional $500,000 more in late May. His campaign raised more than $340,000 in individual contributions since April, and $12,000 from political action committees.

Altogether, Republican candidates for governor have given or loaned themselves more than $22 million for the primary campaign, according to the Oklahoma Voice .

Before launching his gubernatorial bid, Mazzei served in the Oklahoma state Senate and worked as a financial planner. Throughout the campaign, he promoted his goals of eliminating state income taxes, expanding property tax relief for senior citizens and veterans and creating a literacy initiative for Oklahoma.

As attorney general, Drummond recently sued to block a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter project in Oklahoma, arguing it may harm the environment and agriculture. And Drummond has pushed back on his own party over attempts to integrate religion into schools .

He is also a rancher, U.S. Air Force veteran and banker from a prominent family. Ha has also been critical of Gov. Stitt’s relations with Indigenous tribes in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma has been a reliably Republican state in recent elections, with Trump winning every county in the state three times in a row and the GOP carrying Oklahoma in every presidential election since 1968.