GOP chair slammed for endorsement

Alexia Aston

The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK

Ex-leaders want Linch to withdraw or resign

Former leaders of the Oklahoma Republican Party have asked the organization’s current chair to withdraw her endorsement of congressional candidate Jackson Lahmeyer or step down from her post, citing a decades-long custom of neutrality.

Lahmeyer, one of11Republican candidates running for Oklahoma’s Congressional District 1, announced the endorsement on social media Wednesday, April 23. Chairwoman Charity Linch responded to the post, saying, “Absolutely honored. We need to send patriots to D.C.”

Linch was elected chairwoman of the Oklahoma Republican Party in 2025, succeeding Nathan Damn, who issued the statement condemning the endorsement alongside former chairs A.J. Ferate, Pam Pollard and Gary Jones.

The former chairs said Linch previously pledged to stay out of primaries. They also said they objected to Linch’s use of her office and official letterhead to send President Donald Trump a letter explaining her support for Lahmeyer.

“It has been a decades-long custom for sitting Oklahoma Party chairs to stay out of open primary races and let the voters determine the Republican nominee,” the former chairs said.

In a statement issued in response to the letter, Linch said the rules of the Oklahoma Republican Party do not restrict officers from making endorsements.

“When Oklahoma overwhelmingly elected me to be their chairwoman for the Republican Party, I did not agree to lose my voice,” Linch said. “There are always going to be those who try to silence our voices. I will not silence the voices of those that disagree with me, either.”

She added that the U.S. is fighting an “onslaught of communist ideologies,” and said she believed the country needs “strong voices who will stand against this.”

“President Trump is the highest ranking Republican official, and we all appreciate his endorsements,” Linch said. “I do not always agree with his choice, but that does not affect my appreciation for his work and policies.”

Lahmeyer has cultivated ties with Trump’s allies, including Gen. Mike Flynn, Roger Stone and Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani was in Tulsa last month at a fundraiser for Lahmeyer, who hopes to replace Congressman Kevin Hern.

The Congressional District 1 seat is wide open for the first time since 2018 after Hern announced he’s running for Markwayne Mullin’s former U.S. Senate seat. Mullin, a Republican, stepped down to serve as Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security.

Lahmeyer runs a group called Pastors for Trump and previously failed to unseat U.S. Sen. James Lankford in 2022. Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. have appeared multiple times at Lahmeyer’s Tulsa church.

He is part of a conservative movement that has steadily grown over the years that many have labeled as “Christian nationalism,” and what harsher critics call “white Christian nationalism.”

During this election, Lahmeyer has said his priorities are to keep borders secure, remove illegal criminals from the streets, make living in America affordable for Americans, ban the Chinese Communist Party from owning farmland, and ensure that sharia law “never takes root in our nation.”

The packed Republican primary election for the seat include several wellknown names, like Lahmeyer, Kim David, the chairwoman of the Corporation Commission and Republican State Rep. Mark Tedford, of Jenks.

Both Lahmeyer and Tedford are certified through the OKGOP Certified program, meaning the Oklahoma Republican Party believes they are aligned with core Republican values.

The primary election will be June 16. Contributing: Staff writer Dale Denwalt

U.S. Senate candidate Jackson Lahmeyer speaks during a 2022 rally in Oklahoma City.

BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN