Trump-backed Mazzei wins in Oklahoma after nasty race devolves into drug tests and a car wreck

Developing story first seen 3 hours ago

Daily Mail · 3 hours ago

New reporting confirms Republican Mike Mazzei, the Trump-backed former Oklahoma state senator and budget secretary, won Tuesday's gubernatorial runoff over state attorney general Gentner Drummond by a single point, in a race that had appeared far from settled beforehand. The contest became one of the nastiest of the election cycle and offered another test of Donald Trump's ability to sway Republican primaries in governor's races, an arena where his endorsements have traditionally carried less weight than in Senate or House contests.

The latest details reveal the scale of spending behind the race: Mazzei loaned his own campaign an Oklahoma-record $11.6 million and outspent Drummond overall, roughly $12.3 million to $9.1 million across the primary and runoff, while Drummond put in $3 million of his own money but drew more from outside donors. Nearly $13 million more was spent by outside groups since 1 July, including over $3 million from the Club for Growth-linked School Freedom Fund attacking Drummond over his stance on Trump's impeachment, and close to $3 million from the rival Put Oklahoma 1st PAC targeting Mazzei over past support for tax rises. The campaign was also marked by a bitter row over health and drug-testing records, triggered by a debate exchange, in which Drummond released his medical records and a clean drug test and challenged Mazzei to do the same; Mazzei's own clean test followed, but Drummond argued it wasn't rigorous enough to detect longer-term substance use, an issue sharpened by Mazzei's serious 2008 car accident, which Mazzei says has not left him dependent on pain medication.

Trump-backed Mazzei beat Drummond by just one point in Oklahoma's GOP runoff
Mazzei spent $12.3m (incl. an $11.6m personal loan) versus Drummond's $9.1m
Outside groups poured in nearly $13m amid a bitter health and drug-test row

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Republicans in Oklahoma have just chosen their candidate for governor through a runoff election, a second-round vote held because no candidate won enough support outright in the first primary. The two contenders were Mike Mazzei, a former state senator and state budget secretary who had Donald Trump's backing, and Gentner Drummond, the sitting state attorney general. The result matters partly because it tests whether Trump's endorsement can still swing a governor's race, a contest type where his influence has historically been weaker than in races for Congress.

The run-up to the vote was unusually bitter and expensive. Both men poured millions of their own money into the campaign, and outside groups linked to national political networks spent heavily attacking each candidate, turning the race into one of the costliest and most acrimonious of the cycle. It also became personal, with a dispute over health and drug-test records spilling into public view and touching on a serious car accident Mazzei was involved in back in 2008.

The outcome decides who represents the Republican Party in the race to become Oklahoma's next governor, a heavily Republican state where winning that nomination is often tantamount to winning the office itself.

Both sides, in good faith

The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.

The case for

Supporters of the outcome argue that Mazzei earned his victory fairly, having built a substantial record as a state senator and budget secretary and having secured Donald Trump's backing precisely because primary voters wanted a proven fiscal conservative. They see his willingness to self-fund at record levels as a sign of conviction rather than impropriety, note that he too produced a clean drug test when challenged, and view Drummond's insistence that the test was insufficiently rigorous as an unfounded attempt to keep a fifteen-year-old car accident in the headlines rather than a legitimate line of inquiry. From this vantage point, voters weighed the claims and counter-claims and reached their own considered judgement.

The case against

Others argue that Drummond raised a fair point of public interest: voters are entitled to full assurance about a future governor's health and fitness for office, and a single drug test may not settle longer-term questions, so pressing for more rigorous disclosure was reasonable scrutiny rather than a smear. They also point to the scale of spending, including Mazzei's unprecedented personal loan to his own campaign and the millions poured in by outside groups on both sides, as evidence of a system where resources and outside PAC muscle can overshadow substantive debate on policy. On this view, the closeness of the final result suggests many voters shared these reservations even as Mazzei ultimately prevailed.

Full account

Mike Mazzei, a former Oklahoma state senator and budget secretary, has secured the Republican nomination for governor after a runoff contest against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond that finished on a knife-edge. The result, declared on Tuesday night, came down to roughly a single percentage point, capping a campaign that had curdled from a routine primary fight into one of the most acrimonious races of the cycle, marked by personal attacks and heavy advertising spend from both camps.

Donald Trump had backed Mazzei from early in the contest, endorsing him ahead of the June primary vote and intervening repeatedly in the closing weeks of the runoff to criticise Drummond and urge Republicans to fall in behind his chosen candidate. Mazzei's narrow victory is being read as another marker of the president's sway over Republican primaries, an arena where his endorsements have traditionally carried less weight in gubernatorial races than in contests for Congress.

The bitterest turn in the campaign came late on, after a debate exchange touched on the candidates' health and stamina. Drummond responded by publishing his own medical records along with a clean drug screen, then dared Mazzei to follow suit. Mazzei duly produced a negative test of his own, but Drummond dismissed it as inadequate, arguing it relied on a method unable to pick up substance use over an extended window. The exchange took on extra edge given that Mazzei survived a severe car crash in 2008; he has maintained he is not currently taking pain medication as a result of that injury.

Money flowed just as freely as accusations. Across the primary and runoff combined, Mazzei's campaign spent an estimated $12.3 million against Drummond's $9.1 million, with Mazzei drawing heavily on his own resources to fund the effort. The scale of spending, layered on top of the health row and mutual sniping over records and ties to Trump, made for an unusually bruising fight even by the standards of a competitive statewide primary.

Where outlets differ

The two source reports give contradictory figures for the margin of victory: one states Drummond edged out Mazzei by a single point, which conflicts with the headline and the outcome reported (Mazzei winning the nomination), while the other source states Mazzei edged out Drummond by less than a point — the latter is consistent with the declared result and has been treated as authoritative here.

One account adds detail that Mazzei was prescribed pain medication following his 2008 car accident and says he has stated he stopped taking it in early 2009; the other source omits this specific timeline and simply notes his denial of current reliance on pain medication.

Minor differences in framing: one report explicitly labels Mazzei as having had Trump's backing 'from the outset', while the other focuses more on the endorsement's role in the broader narrative of Trump's influence on the race.

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