The State Committee endorsed candidates for governor, labor commissioner and state superintendent just days before voters decide, drawing criticism from former statewide officials.
OKLAHOMA CITY — With Republican voters set to decide Oklahoma’s runoff races Tuesday, former Gov. Mary Fallin and two other former statewide officials are pushing back against the Oklahoma Republican Party’s decision to choose sides.
The party’s State Committee formally endorsed Mike Mazzei over Attorney General Gentner Drummond in the gubernatorial runoff, the top race on Tuesday’s ballot. The committee also endorsed Kevin West for labor commissioner and James Taylor for state superintendent.
Fallin, former state Treasurer Ken Miller and former state Auditor Gary Jones did not base their objections on the candidates who received the endorsements. All three argued that the state party should remain neutral and allow Republican voters to choose their nominees.
Miller described the party’s intervention as outrageous and called for the immediate removal of state party Chair Charity Linch. Jones, who also served seven years as state GOP chairman, said party leaders were violating longstanding practice by jumping into contested Republican races.
Fallin says voters should decide
Fallin, who has largely stayed out of Oklahoma’s public political debate since leaving office nearly eight years ago, responded to a Facebook post by Miller.
“A party does not endorse in an open primary or runoff,” Fallin wrote.
She said candidates should make their cases through debates, public appearances and their own campaign organizations, leaving voters to decide.
Fallin also warned that party intervention could discourage qualified people from running for office.
“Good people will not step up to serve and run for office, spend over a year campaigning and raising money if … a few in the Republican leadership anoint themselves to coronate their personal preference,” she wrote. “Voters can decide themselves.”
Fallin served as governor from 2011 to 2019 after serving in Congress, as lieutenant governor and in the Oklahoma House.
Miller, who served as state treasurer during Fallin’s eight years as governor, accused Linch of using the party machinery to pick its nominees.
“Regardless of who your preferred candidates are in this election cycle, what this rogue chairwoman is doing is outrageous,” Miller wrote. “Before her, never has the party officially endorsed candidates in a primary or runoff.”
Miller called for Linch’s immediate removal as party chair.
Jones offered a similar rebuke. He was elected state party chairman five times and served from 2003 to 2010, with a break while running for state auditor.
“Not once during that time did the OKGOP endorse a candidate in a primary,” Jones wrote. “We believe Oklahoma Republican primary voters should make that decision, not a handful of folks violating the rules trying to make themselves feel important.”
Jones urged Republicans to “send them a message Tuesday” and said party members should mobilize after the November election to “take back our party.”
Jones said party rules prohibit primary endorsements. The current rules do not contain an explicit blanket prohibition, although they restrict party fundraising and spending for primary candidates. They also establish a process a candidate must follow to seek party endorsement.
Committee endorses candidates in three races
The State Committee, led by Linch, announced all three endorsements Saturday.
Its news release endorsing Mazzei said he is the only candidate remaining in the governor’s race who completed the party’s “OKGOP Certified” process. The accompanying resolution said certification should be given “meaningful effect” rather than treated as ceremonial.
“OKGOP Certified” is a voluntary label the party introduced for this election cycle. It is not a state credential, a ballot qualification or a requirement for running as a Republican.
Candidates seeking the designation must apply, complete a party survey and meet standards set by party leaders. According to the program’s website, those standards include agreeing with at least 80% of the state party platform, having no affiliation with another political party during the previous five years, making no contributions to Democratic candidates during that period and meeting the party’s positions on abortion and gun rights.
The current party rules do not create or define an “OKGOP Certified” status. They separately require candidates seeking an endorsement to review the party platform, mark where they agree or disagree and make that document available at party headquarters.
Drummond’s campaign said last month that it deliberately declined to participate in the voluntary process. Because Drummond did not apply, he was not evaluated under the program.
The committee also endorsed West over John Pfeiffer in the labor commissioner runoff and Taylor over Robert Franklin in the state superintendent runoff.
Mazzei, West and Taylor are listed as certified candidates. Their runoff opponents are not.
The committee did not announce an endorsement in the insurance commissioner runoff between Marty Quinn and Bob Sullivan. Both candidates are listed as certified.
An Aug. 5 statement signed by Linch and dozens of other party officials, elected officials and activists said Taylor had earned OKGOP Certified status while Franklin had not. The statement praised Taylor and criticized Franklin’s record.
The controversy follows Linch’s personal endorsement of Tulsa pastor Jackson Lahmeyer in the 1st Congressional District primary. Four former state party chairs said in April that Oklahoma GOP leaders had followed a decades-long practice of remaining neutral in contested primaries.
Republican voters will decide the runoffs Tuesday. The winner of the gubernatorial runoff will face Democratic nominee Cyndi Munson and independent candidates in November.
(This story was corrected because an earlier version included an inaccurate description of an Aug. 5 statement from the Oklahoma Republican Party.)
