Gentner Drummond Breaks With Oklahoma GOP Leaders in 5 Key Fights
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 26
Gentner Drummond Breaks With Oklahoma GOP Leaders in 5 Key Fights
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 26
Summary
Gentner Drummond has emerged in Oklahoma’s Republican governor runoff as a candidate defined by repeated breaks with his party’s state leadership, despite serving as attorney general since 2023.
Five issues best capture that stance: he backs tax cuts but rejects slashing funding for schools and roads, unlike rival Mike Mazzei’s push to eliminate the state income tax.
A $4 billion aluminum smelter near Tulsa became the race’s sharpest fault line after Drummond sued to block it over environmental, grid and foreign-ownership concerns, while Trump endorsed Mazzei, who backed the project.
Drummond also openly battled Governor Kevin Stitt — including a defamation suit over campaign ads — and often sided with Native American tribes in sovereignty disputes with the Stitt administration.
His broader profile includes 1991 Gulf War combat service and a crackdown that closed thousands of illicit marijuana operations, positioning him as the general-election favorite if he wins the runoff.