2026 Oklahoma runoff endorsements

Former State Senator Jake Merrick, the underfunded gubernatorial candidate who managed to finish aheade well-funded former Speaker Charles McCall in June's primary, has endorsed Mike Mazzei in the Republican runoff for Governor.

When I step back and I look at the whole picture, I see two different approaches to governing. There are areas where Gentner Drummond and I agree. There are areas where I believe he's been right like on illegal marijuana grows. But there are also significant areas particularly involving the proper role of government and institutional accountability where I have serious disagreements.

With Mike Mazzei, I find greater alignment around a philosophy of fiscal restraint, parental authority, protection of life, and questioning the size and scope of the state itself. And on DHS reform, I'm not just hearing rhetoric. I'm seeing Mike begin the work of asking questions, bringing people together, and developing potential solutions before he ever takes office. And these things matter to me.

But my own philosophy comes back to an even more fundamental question. It's one I asked earlier.

Before we ask whether Government is doing something effectively or efficiently, let's ask whether government should be doing it at all. And that's the lens through which I evaluate government and candidates. So when I put all that together: life, liberty, limited government, parental authority, property rights, government accountability, DHS reform, and Oklahoma sovereignty.

I find myself aligning more closely with Mike Mazzei, so I'll be supporting him for governor. Not because someone told me to, not because the President endorsed him, and not because I dislike Gentner Drummond. And it's not because I expect Mike Mazzei and I to agree on everything. I am supporting him because when I take the personalities away, take the endorsements away, take the campaign politics away, and compare these candidates against the principles I believe should govern Oklahoma, Mike is just closer to where I believe Oklahoma needs to go.

Mazzei was also recently endorsed by the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association (OK2A), State Senators Brian Guthrie, Randy Grellner, George Burns, and Jerry Alvord, and State Representatives Jim Shaw, Mark Lepak, and Danny Williams.

State Rep. Jim Shaw defeated an insider candidate with grassroots funds and efforts in 2024 and is beloved by grassroots Republicans for refusing to accept PAC and lobbyist campaign contributions and gifts. Shaw is a stalwart in the legislature for protecting rural Oklahoma's farms and ranches against threats like wind farms, humanure, and data centers. Here is Shaw's endorsement of Mazzei:

Chandler, OK -- State Representative Jim Shaw, R-Chandler, endorses Mike Mazzei for Governor, saying Mazzei is the conservative ally Oklahoma needs to advance freedom, protect Oklahoma families, secure Oklahoma land, and hold government accountable.

"Mike Mazzei has shown that he will fight for Oklahoma workers, taxpayers, landowners and families," Shaw said. "Gentner Drummond wants Republican voters to believe he is a conservative, but voters should judge his record, not his campaign rhetoric. Oklahoma needs a committed conservative, not a slick talking trial attorney."

Shaw, author of the seven-point Save Oklahoma Plan which Mazzei supports, pointed to several clear contrasts in the race.

On foreign ownership of Oklahoma land, Mazzei supports criminalizing hostile foreign ownership of Oklahoma land. Drummond has defended a narrower interpretation of existing law. Drummond is also responsible for the loophole introduced on the affidavit form allowing foreign nationals to continue purchasing new property in Oklahoma, perpetuating illicit activity endangering our communities.

On E-Verify, Mazzei supports requiring employers to verify that new workers are legally authorized to work. "Mike Mazzei stands with Oklahoma workers and the rule of law," Shaw said. "Gentner Drummond is on record saying we don't have the resources to pursue all illegals and has previously mentioned he has no concern with illegal aliens who are obeying the law. What an oxymoron."

On government spending and Green New Deal-style subsidies, Mazzei has a record of fighting wasteful government programs and helped stop a $1.5 billion transferable tax-credit program for wind energy. Drummond offers conservative rhetoric; Mazzei has delivered conservative results.

"The Save Oklahoma Plan is about protecting Oklahoma land, jobs, taxpayers and individual freedom while making government smaller and more accountable. It's an agenda that's popular with the grassroots of this party and should be easy for any conservative candidate to support," Shaw said. "Mike Mazzei is willing to fight for that agenda. Gentner Drummond is not."

"I'm proud to endorse Mike Mazzei for Governor," Shaw concluded."Oklahoma conservatives must choose a candidate who has committed to change the way business is done in Oklahoma City. Mike Mazzei is that candidate."

Dr. John Cox, Republican candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and long-time Superintendent of Peggs Public Schools, has endorsed high school history and government teacher James Taylor in the State Superintendent runoff. Cox finished third in a close seven-candidate primary with 18.4% of the vote.

Congressman Josh Brecheen has endorsed Marty Quinn for Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner. Brecheen served in the State Senate while Quinn served in the State House:

And why Marty Quinn? Because I've watched him for approximately a decade. He's honorable. He's honest. And when you look at people who serve in elected office, there's really one thing I think that separates, more so than anything else, and that is: Are they honest? And do they do what they do because they really believe in it, led by conscience, not political calculation?

And I was working on some things that were really important to me, trying to make sure that the tax law was just in the way it was applied to Oklahomans years ago. And there was one person of the entire state legislature that I chose to take over the authorship that I had and hand it over to somebody who I knew was respected in the building, and who I knew would do the right thing and pick the fight because he's ferocious, but he does it with gentleness. And you need somebody who's going to do what they do in the Insurance Commissioner's office because it's really within them to do the right thing when nobody's watching.

Brecheen has also endorsed James Taylor for State Superintendent and Mike Mazzei for Governor:

"Mike Mazzei is the leader Oklahoma needs. No one understands state finance reform better than Mike--his expertise will transform Oklahoma into an economic powerhouse," Brecheen said. "A man of strong character and principled conservatism, Mike Mazzei takes on tough issues with truth and tact, making a lasting impact without division."

Brecheen also highlighted Mazzei's role in securing the future of the state's teacher retirement system.

"During our time in state government, I witnessed him spearhead some of the most transformational reforms, including pension reform, ensuring the solvency of the teacher retirement system."

State Rep. Jim Shaw has also endorsed James Taylor for State Superintendent:

I am proud to endorse Dr. James Taylor for Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Oklahoma parents deserve a Superintendent who will put their children first, not special interests in Oklahoma City. Dr. Taylor has the courage to stand up for Oklahoma families and lead meaningful reform.

I encourage every Oklahoma voter to join me in supporting Dr. James Taylor for State Superintendent.

Charlie Meadows, long-time chairman of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee, has released his runoff picks. He agrees with me on statewide officials (Mazzei, Taylor, West, Quinn) and the state questions (Yes on both), and he's got helpful information on several legislative races mainly in central Oklahoma. Here's what Meadows says about the State Superintendent race:

Taylor has developed and proven over several years a method to inspire teachers and parents to inspire students to want to learn. He also has a plan to reduce the number of emergency certified teachers in such a way it would actually save tax dollars for the citizens of Oklahoma. Dr. Franklin is a highly certified educator and administrator that represents everything that the education establishment has done over the past 40 to 50 year which has driven up the cost of education only to see the academic performance of students decline. If Dr. Taylor doesn't win, the teacher union bosses will have put forth a Republican or Democrat candidate to choose from. What a bad idea for the children of Oklahoma.

A correction to Charlie's statement: Former Tulsa school board member Dr. Jennettie Marshall, the Democrat nominee for Superintendent, was not the teacher's union choice. They hate Marshall because she was a critic of Deborah Gist and the expensive consultantocracy at TPS, because she pushed for the audit that exposed fiscal wrongdoing.

Former State Rep. Jason Murphey has also posted his runoff endorsements:

I've been fielding requests for my views on the state questions, though not so much my picks for the statewide candidates. That's likely because the grassroots ticket is fairly obvious to anyone even slightly engaged: Mike Mazzei for governor, James Taylor for state school superintendent, and Kevin West for state labor commissioner.

I am not sure I've ever seen such a distinctly defined ticket of runoff candidates, almost as distinct as the partisan divide itself.

Murphey offers no insight on the Insurance Commissioner race.

Murphey provides some helpful historical context on SQ 846 (constitutional voter ID requirement) and puts SQ 844 in a different light. The problem 844 is trying to address, he says, is specific to Google and Mayes County and could be solved a better way:

And now the Legislature finds itself in a position where the state is picking up a tab for nearly $88 million each year, with--get this--$34 million of that going to Google to cover the tab for their property taxes at their Pryor, Oklahoma data center.

Yes, at some point in the past, probably in the 1990s, the Legislature decided that data centers should qualify for this treatment, what is known as the five-year manufacturing entity exemption from the property tax, even though a data center isn't a manufacturing entity, strictly defined. It's pure, corrupt, politics.

By 2021, due to the Google project, that date center subsidy became so pricey that the Legislature cut off that part of the program: no more welfare for data centers; except, by then Google was clearly too politically powerful, and the local Pryor, Oklahoma schools so dependent on the subsidy, that the legislators, in what is an epic special-law-benefit territory--which, in my view, is an abhorrent, corrupt practice prohibited by the state constitution--received a special extension through 2036....

[Speaker Kyle] Hilbert's explanation suggests that this is a problem of the local county assessor, presumably in Mayes county, where he seems to suggest that the county assessor is over assessing that facility, knowing that the state will pay the bill, and Google, receiving a free benefit, won't protest the assessment because they are not paying for it.

Now, the fix for this is easy. If this is an abuse, the legislature would direct the state's Tax Commission, which both oversees the giveaway program and has a role in auditing assessors, to tweak its rules as needed to update the assessor auditing criteria and thus mitigate the harm.

He's got me rethinking my vote on 844.