In a June 6 interview with OKPoliticsToday, Attorney General Gentner Drummond previewed many of the arguments he is now expected to make in a Republican gubernatorial runoff against Trump-endorsed financial advisor Mike Mazzei.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Trump-endorsed former senator Mike Mazzei will meet Aug. 25 in a Republican gubernatorial runoff after emerging from Tuesday’s crowded nine-candidate primary.
Drummond finished first with 26.3 percent of the vote, edging Mazzei, who received 26.0 percent despite securing President Donald Trump’s late endorsement. Former Secretary of Public Safety Chip Keating finished third with 18.5 percent, followed by former state Sen. Jake Merrick at 14.5 percent and former House Speaker Charles McCall at 11.8 percent.
The outcome set up a runoff that Drummond appeared to anticipate 10 days before the primary.
During a June 6 interview with OKPoliticsToday, Drummond acknowledged the political force of Trump’s endorsement and predicted it would alter the dynamics of the race.
“A lot of Oklahoma Republican voters are not going to follow campaigns and issues, they’re going to go where President Trump went,” Drummond said. “That affects me.”
Even so, Drummond suggested voters would ultimately be presented with “a very stark comparison” between himself and Mazzei.
“Somebody who does what he says, somebody on property taxes, on the smelter, on education,” Drummond said.
Drummond also repeated his allegation that Mazzei’s reversal on the proposed aluminum smelter project in Inola was tied to Trump’s endorsement.
“There was a trade,” Drummond said. “Roger Stone has told everybody on social media, and he went to Mazzei and said, ‘If you flip on the smelter, I’ll get you the endorsement.’ And about noon that day, Mike flipped, and by 4:30 he had an endorsement.”
Drummond offered no evidence during the interview to substantiate the allegation. Mazzei has denied changing his position on the project in exchange for Trump’s endorsement.
The attorney general also defended his legal challenge involving the smelter project and cast the dispute as one of transparency rather than opposition to economic development.
“I’m not anti-smelter or anti-development,” Drummond said. “I’m just pro be honest.”
Drummond said the company’s permit filings did not adequately address water and solid-waste questions and argued regulators and the public deserved those answers before the project moved forward.
On tax policy, Drummond rejected calls to eliminate property taxes outright, instead advocating targeted relief for seniors and veterans and increasing Oklahoma’s homestead exemption.
“We can’t eliminate property taxes,” he said.
Likewise, Drummond argued that Oklahoma should not further reduce income taxes until the state’s economic productivity increases.
The attorney general also outlined an economic development strategy centered on partnerships with tribal nations, suggesting defense, aviation and infrastructure ventures with the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations rather than large incentive packages for foreign-owned projects.
Ten days before Republican primary voters went to the polls, Drummond was already framing the race as a contest over Trump’s influence, the Inola smelter project and what he called a choice between keeping one’s word and changing positions for political advantage.
