

PAWHUSKA — With a cookout featuring Drummond beef burgers and an endorsement from the State Fraternal Order of Police union, Attorney General Gentner Drummond became the first major candidate to declare a 2026 Oklahoma gubernatorial campaign today, touting his two years as the state’s top law enforcement officer and his business bonafides to the hundreds of people in attendance.
Emphasizing his role in combatting illegal marijuana grows and human trafficking, Drummond delivered his announcement speech over a sign reading, “Serving the people of Oklahoma, not the political elite.”
“I’m not running for governor because I want a new title. I’m not running for governor as a career politician looking for another promotion. I’m not running for governor to support special interest groups. I’m not running for governor so that I can bow down to the party bosses,” Drummond said. “I’m running for governor because I believe in the boundless potential of [Oklahoma’s] people, and I’m deeply committed to the future that we can build together. Together we can build a future where Oklahoma is the most business-friendly state in the nation.”
Osage County is home turf for Drummond, who grew up in Hominy where his great-great grandfather, Frederick, was the town’s first mayor. While Drummond’s family may be best known for Ree Drummond’s cooking show, Frederick Drummond’s descendants are amongst the county’s wealthiest landowners. Drummond entered the family ranching business as a teenager after being legally emancipated at 14 to buy his first piece of land, according to an interview with the Tulsa World.
On Monday, he credited his desire to run for office to his grandfather, who was also named Gentner.
“When I was 14 years old — just 15 miles south of here — my grandfather sat me down (and) he said, ‘Gentner, you’re the oldest of 65 members of your generation. You’re the oldest of the fifth generation of Drummonds in Osage County, and I want to inspire you to give back,” he said, continuing to quote his grandfather. “‘When you become an adult, I want you to serve in the military. I want you to raise your family, and then I want you to give back to the state in elected office.’”
FOP voted ‘unanimously’ to back Gentner Drummond

The open 2026 gubernatorial race will mark Drummond’s third campaign for statewide office. After an attempt to oust Attorney General Mike Hunter fell just short in 2018. Four years later, Drummond unseated Attorney General John O’Connor — whom Gov. Kevin Stitt had appointed following Hunter’s sudden resignation — in 2022. Drummond campaigned on being independent of Stitt and more willing to cooperate with tribal governments than O’Connor.
In the two years that have followed, Drummond and Stitt have repeatedly clashed on issues involving state-tribal relations, legal representation and state budget projections. With Drummond at the helm, the Attorney General’s Office has been active, unplugging a backlog of attorney general opinion requests, indicting a trio of barbecue salesmen — among other criminal defendants — and suing natural gas companies for alleged price manipulation during Winter Storm Uri. He has opposed the creation of a Catholic charter school, successfully pushed for the resignation of the state’s tourism agency director, and attempted to block the Muscogee Nation from prosecuting a non-tribal jail detention officer involved in a fracas with Lighthorse police.
At least three times during his tenure as AG, Drummond has exercised the office’s power to assume control of any criminal prosecution in the state. While his office’s prosecution of Ben Harris and David Chaney — the owners of Epic Youth Services — has been bogged down in a procedural cotillion for months, Drummond took over and dismissed two other high-profile cases from Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna.
In 2023, Drummond assumed control of the case against former House Majority Whip Terry O’Donnell (R-Catoosa) and dismissed it. Despite saying that “Terry’s guilty,” Drummond dropped the charges because he argued the influential legislator had been targeted for investigation by Hunter, whose AG tenure he has repeatedly criticized.
In December, Drummond took over and dismissed the prosecution of Oklahoma City Police Department Sgt. Joseph Gibson, whom Behenna had charged with aggravated assault and battery for slamming 71-year-old Lich Vu to the ground during an Oct. 27 argument about a traffic violation. Vu, who tapped Gibson’s chest during the disagreement, sustained spinal and facial fractures.
Drummond’s decision to take over and drop the charge against Gibson was celebrated by the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 123, whose leader — Mark Nelson — is currently the president of the Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police.
On Monday, Nelson announced the statewide police union’s endorsement of Drummond.
“Last Tuesday, our executive board met and we had input from the representatives of thousands and thousands of officers across the state,” Nelson said. “Thirty or 40 different lodges (discussed it), and it’s my pleasure to announce we voted unanimously to endorse you to be Oklahoma’s next governor.”
Nelson called Drummond the “best person” to address issues like illegal marijuana operations and human trafficking.
“We cannot allow human traffickers and child traffickers to see another minute of daylight in this state. They cannot victimize our families. He won’t surrender our cities, our counties and our communities to this kind of behavior and criminal activity. We believe that Attorney General Drummond, who we’ve had a relationship with for years now, is the best person to do that job next as governor.”
The endorsement ties Drummond into local communities as he attempts to thread a political needle and sew up what should be a hotly contested Republican gubernatorial nomination 18 months on the horizon. While he has attempted to align himself with law enforcement, Drummond has also positioned himself differently than Stitt on the topic of criminal jurisdiction in eastern Oklahoma, where a series of Indian Country reservations affirmed by the 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma decision have experienced tension, turmoil and litigation. While Stitt has pushed and celebrated efforts for Oklahoma to regain criminal jurisdiction over Indian defendants statewide, Drummond has generally kept his powder dry on the issue while voicing support for tribal sovereignty and cooperation.
While Drummond launched his campaign in the capital of the Osage Nation, he did not mention the tribe directly. The Drummonds in Osage County have a complicated relationship with the tribal nation. Much of the family’s original wealth was generated during the Osage Reign of Terror, although Drummond has denied his family was historically involved in the theft of Osage wealth.
Drummond briefly mentioned his efforts to work with tribal nations Monday.
“Together we will build a future where we work together with our Native American tribes to invest in education, roads and bridges, and public safety,” he said during his speech.
Before running for office, Drummond flew F-15s during the Gulf War, practiced law and owned several businesses, including banks, ranches and even a U.S. Cellular franchise.
With the ever-escalating costs of campaigns in America, Drummond’s personal wealth and prominent fundraising consultant, Jenna Worthen, offer a formidable front more than a year before the 2026 Republican primary. Worthen’s husband, Trebor, served as Drummond’s chief of staff at the Attorney General’s Office until he resigned from that job in August. Like his wife, the longtime political consultant is one of Oklahoma’s top electoral experts, with extensive experience in candidate campaigns and independent expenditures. However, Trebor Worthen said Monday he has “no plans to play any formal role in the campaign as I pursue other business interests outside of politics.” He added that he is doing “no political work at all,” not even in the independent expenditure realm.
“It was a tremendous honor to be trusted by Attorney General Drummond to work alongside him as he serves the people of our state,” he said in a statement. “He is a man of conviction and integrity who cares deeply about the future of Oklahoma.”
Drummond’s campaign team has raised funds during his two years in office. Over the first three quarters of 2024, campaign records for Drummond’s attorney general committee show him raising more than $88,000, with several donations coming from people connected to medical marijuana companies. On July 25, campaign records show, Drummond’s 2022 campaign committee reimbursed him $91,100 as “payment towards loans” for personal funds put into his 2018 campaign.
While a Drummond announcement graphic circulated last week was attributed to “Friends of Gentner Drummond 2026,” the committee was formally registered with the commission around noon Monday, the agency’s director said.
Follow @NonDocMedia on:
Facebook | X | Text or Email
With two in the race, potential candidates gather on sidelines
While many potential candidates have been rumored for the governor’s race, only Leisa Mitchell Haynes of Choctaw has formed a campaign committee with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
Haynes, whose bio notes her childhood dinner invitation to President Richard Nixon, emphasized improving health care access in a Jan. 7 blog post promoting “policies for a better quality of life.” In all, she lists 22 topics as her “vision.”
Perhaps channeling Gov. Alfalfa Bill Murray, Haynes describes “TexOkie Border Control” as “enhancing border security along the Texas-Oklahoma border to prevent illegal activities.”
Her “initiative” under “Public Entertainment” would create “safe and inclusive environments in schools and entertainment venues by upholding appropriate standards of professionalism and behavior.”
“No cross dressers or witches (showing out at school) employed in schools or entertainment. This initiative ensures the well-being and comfort of students and patrons,” Haynes writes.
Other potential candidates rumored to be mulling a gubernatorial bid in 2026 are former Sen. Mike Mazzei, Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) and Chip Keating, a former Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper and the son of former Gov. Frank Keating. While Mazzei is yet to announce, he shared a gubernatorial campaign logo on social media earlier this month. U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK1) floated a gubernatorial campaign, but he decided against running after Republicans won a narrow House majority in 2024. Sen. James Lankford has also ruled out running for governor in 2026.
(Update: This article was updated at 3:35 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13, to include details about a campaign committee and adjust a crowd-size estimate.)
