By George Magazine
Yesterday, June 16, 2026, voters hit the polls across several states, including Alabama, California, Georgia, the District of Columbia, and Oklahoma. The undisputed circus of the night took place in the Sooner State. With massive Senate shifts and highly publicized personal scandals rocking the boat, here is exactly what went down and what it means for the midterm landscape.
The race to fill the open 1st Congressional District seat attracted 11 Republican candidates. Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer walked into Election Day holding the coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump. However, the “America First” candidate recently made international news due to a highly publicized text messaging scandal involving a former Miss Oklahoma. Apparently, traditional family values can occasionally take a backseat when a campaign is on the line.
Did the scandal sink his political career? Not quite, but it certainly stopped him from cruising to an easy victory.
State Rep. Mark Tedford took the lead with almost 32% of the vote.
Jackson Lahmeyer managed to scrape by into second place with nearly 26% of the electorate.
Because neither candidate secured a simple majority of 50%, they are officially headed to a brutal runoff election on August 25.
Late Tuesday night, Lahmeyer boldly addressed the controversy to his supporters, claiming that voters “rejected the relentless attacks” on his family by putting him in the top two. We will see if that confident tune holds up through two more months of brutal campaign attack ads. The winner of the August runoff will face Democrat John Croisant, who automatically won his nomination when no challengers filed.
While the House race was a total mess, the Republican U.S. Senate primary was a complete blowout.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern absolutely crushed his Republican challengers, securing an overwhelming 69% of the vote.
He completely bypassed any need for a runoff and advances straight to the November 3 general election.
On the Democratic side for the Senate, nurse N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas secured 44% of the vote and faith leader Jim Priest grabbed 24%. They will face each other in their own August runoff to decide who takes on Hern in the fall.
The District of Columbia held a highly consequential Democratic mayoral primary to replace outgoing incumbent Muriel Bowser. This was the very first election in which the city utilized a ranked choice voting system. Candidates Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie led heavily in media attention. The new ranked choice format is currently keeping pollsters up at night as they attempt to model the final vote transfers.
For Republicans:
The absolute invincibility of the Trump endorsement is showing some serious cracks. Lahmeyer had the former president’s official backing but still got bested by a state representative in the first round. Republicans are now staring down the barrel of an expensive, messy runoff in Oklahoma’s 1st District. This forces the GOP to burn cash fighting itself in late summer, rather than saving those crucial dollars for the general election in November.
For Democrats:
The chaos on the right is a welcome distraction. With candidates like John Croisant advancing automatically without burning a single dime in a primary fight, Democrats can sit back and watch the GOP slug it out. It allows the Democratic base to quietly consolidate their resources and prepare for the 120th Congress battle while their opponents are distracted by internal scandals.
2026 State Primary Elections, VOTE411: https://www.vote411.org/primaries2026
Hern dominates, Tedford and Lahmeyer head to runoff, Tulsa Flyer: https://tulsaflyer.org/2026/06/16/government/post/hern-wins-tedford-lahmeyer-runoff/
June 16, 2026 Primary Election Results, AP News: https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/june-16-primary-results/
June Primary Election, Oklahoma.gov: https://oklahoma.gov/elections/elections-results/election-results/2026-election-results/june-primary-election.html
June 16, 2026, election results, Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/June_16,_2026,_election_results
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