Bolstered by his endorsement from President Donald Trump, Tulsa businessman and former state senator Mike Mazzei narrowly defeated state Attorney General Gentner Drummond in a Republican primary runoff.

Ahead of the primary, President Trump reaffirmed his endorsement of Mazzei while tearing into Drummond, calling him a “FAKE Republican” in a lengthy Truth Social post on Aug. 18.

This victory, along with South Carolina’s Darline Graham securing her party's nomination for Senate, reinforced the president’s endorsement power within the deep red states.

In a nail-biting scenario, Mazzei secured 186,678 votes over Drummond’s 184,631.

Mazzei quickly thanked Trump for “helping us across the finish line,” noting that 38,000 people participated in a Monday evening “telerally” call featuring brief remarks from the president.

Mazzei has built his candidacy around fiscal management, describing leadership as “stewardship of taxpayer dollars and public trust.” He campaigned to eliminate property tax for seniors and veterans.

The Republican nominee has also chaired the Oklahoma Senate Finance Committee and served as Governor Stitt’s secretary of budget from 2019 to 2020.

Now, he will face the Democratic nominee, Cydni Munson, who has been the Minority Leader of the Oklahoma House of Representatives since 2022. Serving District 85 since 2015, she made history as the first Asian American woman in the Oklahoma Legislature, flipping her seat from Republican control.

Currently, Mazzei is favored to win the governorship, as Oklahoma has nearly 1.3 million registered Republicans, compared with about 616,000 Democrats and 500,000 independent voters, according to the State Election Board.

Munson would need to appeal across party lines while energizing Democratic voters to turn out and support her ahead of the November election.

Another Notch for Democratic Socialists?

Nurse N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas has won the Democratic Senate primary runoff in Oklahoma, securing another win for the party's democratic socialist wing.

The 31-year-old defeated attorney and minister Jim Priest, 70, who was backed by establishment Democrats, including former Oklahoma governors Brad Henry and David Walters, by nearly 30,000 votes on Tuesday.

Thomas' primary victory comes as progressive candidates have made inroads across the country this year. Democratic socialists have won a handful of high-profile primaries in recent weeks, including Angie Nixon in Florida's Senate race and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.

The Democratic nominee describes herself as "a self-proclaimed democratic socialist," adding that while her values align with the party, she is “not yet” a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. However, Thomas has described democratic socialists as "the next generation" that is "looking to change the system,” in an interview on Tuesday.

Asked whether she considered herself a capitalist or a socialist, Thomas said, "Capitalism is what's destroying our country right now," but later described capitalism as "inevitable," saying she supports people owning their own businesses and property.

Thomas will face GOP Rep. Kevin Hern, who will be heavily favored this fall to win the open seat to replace former Sen. Markwayne Mullin, now the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Thomas will face an uphill battle for the Senate seat, as, going into the runoff, her campaign had generated little over $57,000, spending nearly all of it to overcome Priest.

Similarly, Hern is also in a position where his campaign will need to recuperate finances ahead of the election, generating around $2.5 million and spending it all to secure the nomination.

Thomas must appeal to both Democrats and Independents to drive up her numbers, while Hern has to make sure his GOP base shows up to vote come November 3rd.