Trump-Backed Megachurch Pastor Ends Campaign After Texting Scandal With Former Pageant Queen

Megachurch Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer suspended his bid for the U.S. House Wednesday after his intimate texts with a campaign fundraiser surfaced.

Lahmeyer left the race the same day as President Trump switched his endorsement away from him to his competitor in the GOP primary election runoff, Oklahoma state Rep. Mark Telford, Politico reported. The Daily Mail published a series of improper texts Sunday between Lahmeyer and former Miss Oklahoma USA pageant queen and fundraiser for the Lahmeyer campaign, Caitlin Simmons Key.

“I do not want to be a distraction to my family, my church, and the great people of Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District,” Lahmayer said Wednesday.

The texts published by the Daily Mail include him discussing declining an offer of cocaine after a Mar-A-Lago party and texting the pageant queen “I’m a fan of you” and characterizing her as “super thin and very cute.”