Some of the same political interests that backed Senate leadership’s allies in June are now helping Tyler Herring challenge Jack Stewart.
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Republican power struggle that roiled Oklahoma Senate primaries in June has moved to the Yukon area, and some familiar money has followed it.
In Senate District 18, which covers the Yukon area and parts of Canadian and Oklahoma counties, Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton is backing Tyler Herring’s effort to unseat Sen. Jack Stewart.
Stewart, meanwhile, is receiving financial help from senators on the chamber’s harder-right flank, including David Bullard — the senator who came within one vote of defeating Paxton in the last Republican caucus election for Senate leader.
The matchup extends a fight that went badly for the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus two months ago.
The caucus went 0-for-7 against Republican senators it targeted in the June primary. All seven incumbents survived, while Freedom Caucus Vice Chairman Dusty Deevers lost his own primary.
Stewart is not a Freedom Caucus member, but he has often aligned with the Senate’s more conservative bloc. His runoff has become another measure of whether that wing can hold ground after its June losses.
Now the political alliances are coming with campaign fuel.
Herring adds money for closing stretch
Paxton confirmed his support of Herring earlier this month, saying his decision to help the challenger was “an easy one.”
Herring said the Yukon-area district needed a “seat at the table” with Senate leadership. Stewart countered that he would put constituents ahead of “Capitol leaders, special interests or a faction of the party.”
Herring has continued to add money since the regular pre-runoff campaign report, drawing late contributions from tribal, business and political interests.
His broader donor list includes the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber PAC, State Chamber of Oklahoma PAC, Realtors PAC of Oklahoma and former Sen. Greg McCortney’s campaign committee, along with health-care and banking interests.
Herring also has supplied substantial campaign fuel of his own, lending his campaign nearly $85,000 through the most recent regular reporting period.
A familiar pattern from June
Some of Herring’s support follows the same pattern seen before the June primary.
Realtors PAC contributed to several of the senators targeted by Freedom Caucus-backed challengers. It is now supporting Herring.
McCortney’s campaign committee also contributed to Sen. Tom Woods, another member of the group targeted in June, and is now helping Herring.
The exact roster of donors is not the same, and the contributors do not represent a single coordinated organization. But the broader pattern is recognizable.
Some of the institutional and political interests that helped Senate leadership’s allies withstand the June challenges are putting campaign money on the same side of the Senate divide again.
That matters because the June contests were never solely about individual senators.
Before the primary, Freedom Caucus Chairman Shane Jett acknowledged that the campaign was also about future Senate leadership. He identified Bullard as the leading figure opposing Paxton’s leadership team.
Paxton and Bullard on opposite sides
Bullard is now helping Stewart.
His campaign committee contributed to the Yukon Republican’s reelection effort, as have the campaign committees of Sens. Randy Grellner, Brian Guthrie and Roland Pederson. Grellner is a Freedom Caucus member.
Bullard’s involvement carries the clearest political significance.
After the 2024 election, Paxton defeated Bullard 20-19 when Senate Republicans chose their next president pro tempore. It was about as close as a leadership contest can get.
Now the two men are on opposite sides of another Senate race.
Paxton is publicly trying to help Herring defeat Stewart. Bullard is putting campaign money behind keeping Stewart in office.
The Freedom Caucus failed to crack Paxton’s coalition in June. Tuesday’s Yukon-area runoff will not decide control of the Senate, but it will show whether the chamber’s harder-right wing can preserve one of the seats where it has found a reliable ally.
The battle has gotten smaller.
The political divide — and much of the campaign machinery behind it — has not.
