Finance reports show four campaigns amassed nearly $32 million in receipts, much of it from candidate loans, but one low-dollar campaign still captured nearly 15% of the vote.
Oklahoma’s Republican gubernatorial primary offered five vastly different models for building a statewide campaign.
Campaign finance reports filed with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission show the race was dominated by self-funding and multimillion-dollar campaign operations. Four of the five leading candidates collectively reported nearly $32 million in campaign receipts, much of it derived from candidate loans and other self-funding, in their bids for the governor’s office.
Yet one candidate, former state Sen. Jake Merrick, captured nearly 15 percent of the vote while reporting only a fraction of the financial resources available to his opponents.
Former Secretary of Budget Mike Mazzei reported approximately $11.55 million in receipts and received 104,629 votes, or about $110 in campaign receipts for every vote cast in his favor.
Former House Speaker Charles McCall reported approximately $7.36 million in receipts and received 47,501 votes, equating to nearly $155 in receipts per vote.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond reported approximately $7.66 million in total receipts, including an additional $500,000 candidate loan after the June 1 reporting period, and led the field with 105,787 votes. His campaign generated approximately $72 in receipts for every vote received.
Businessman Chip Keating reported approximately $5.41 million in total receipts and garnered 74,356 votes, translating to about $73 in receipts per vote.
Then there was Merrick.
Merrick reported total receipts of approximately $82,290 and received 58,314 votes, or 14.47 percent of all ballots cast in the Republican primary. His campaign generated roughly $1.41 in receipts for every vote received.
Campaign Receipts Per Vote
| Candidate | Receipts Per Vote |
|---|---|
| Charles McCall | $154.95 |
| Mike Mazzei | $110.36 |
| Chip Keating | $72.75 |
| Gentner Drummond | $72.39 |
| Jake Merrick | $1.41 |
The receipts-per-vote calculations are based on aggregate campaign receipts and continuing reports filed with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, divided by each candidate’s reported Republican primary vote total.
The figures suggest that money remains an important ingredient in statewide campaigns, but it is no guarantee of electoral success.
Mazzei and Drummond advanced to the Aug. 25 runoff after assembling campaigns supported by millions of dollars in receipts, including substantial candidate loans. Keating mounted a well-financed statewide effort but finished third, while McCall concluded his campaign after posting the highest receipts-per-vote figure among the five leading candidates.
Merrick’s campaign raises a different question altogether.
Throughout the race, Merrick maintained an active and highly visible social media presence that often made him appear ubiquitous among politically engaged Republican voters despite his limited financial resources. Campaign finance reports cannot measure the value of organic social media reach, earned media or online engagement, and they cannot establish whether those factors directly produced votes.
They do, however, suggest that traditional fundraising is no longer the only path to statewide visibility.
For decades, conventional political wisdom held that serious gubernatorial campaigns required millions of dollars to compete. The 2026 Republican primary largely reinforced that idea by producing a runoff between two well-financed candidates.
At the same time, Merrick’s showing demonstrated that a candidate can still build a meaningful statewide following with comparatively little money.
The lesson from the Republican primary may not be that money no longer matters in politics. Rather, the results suggest that in an era of social media and digital engagement, traditional fundraising may no longer be the sole path to building statewide visibility and voter support.
