Trump’s Oklahoma picks match ballot; linked voting page mislabels election

All nine Republicans in Donald Trump’s Oklahoma voting appeal are on the state’s official candidate list for the offices he names in the 3 November 2026 general election. The call comes six days before early voting begins and renews several earlier endorsements.

The Truth Social message, dated 22 October by the Trump’s Truth archive, asks voters to make a voting plan and gives the candidates his “Complete and Total Endorsement”. It links to Swamp the Vote USA, a Republican campaign website.

Trump backs Kevin Hern for the US Senate, Mike Mazzei for governor, T.W. Shannon for lieutenant governor and Cindy Byrd for state treasurer. His House of Representatives choices are Mark Tedford in district 1, Josh Brecheen in district 2, Frank Lucas in district 3, Tom Cole in district 4 and Stephanie Bice in district 5.

The list covers four statewide races and five separate House districts. Each voter’s House contest depends on where they are registered; the nine names are not nine choices available to every voter.

Several choices had been public for months. Hern and Mazzei already had Trump’s backing during the June primaries, the Associated Press reported. The same archive records an endorsement of Bice’s re-election on 13 March. Oklahoma Voice reported Trump’s switch from Jackson Lahmeyer to Tedford on 17 June.

The Trump Archive’s listing for 22 October also includes similar voting appeals for Michigan and New York. Earlier in the month, Trump had pressed his turnout message at a rally in Durant, part of a Republican National Committee midterm tour. “Pretend I’m running, please. If we don’t win, they’ll end up impeaching me,” he said on 1 October, according to local public-radio station KOSU.

The voting link

The linked Swamp the Vote page is headed “OKLAHOMA: READY TO VOTE REPUBLICAN?” Its form asks users for their name, residential address, email and mobile number. A notice says providing a phone number means joining a recurring text-message programme.

As displayed on 23 October, its main dates match the Oklahoma State Election Board’s calendar: 9 October was the registration deadline for this election, 19 October the regular absentee-ballot application deadline, 28–31 October the early-voting period, and 3 November election day.

Yet the page also says: “The runoff is here”. That is wrong for the November contest, which is a general election. The incorrect description appears on the website, not in Trump’s message.

Its label for 19 October — “In-Person Absentee Ballot Request Deadline” — is also ambiguous. It could mean submitting an application in person, but Oklahoma uses “in-person absentee voting” to mean early voting. The application deadline is not the cut-off for that voting period, which begins on 28 October.