{"id":2492724,"date":"2025-09-30T06:45:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T10:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mccalls-ad-shakes-up-the-oklahoma-gop-governors-race\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T06:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T10:48:14","slug":"mccalls-ad-shakes-up-the-oklahoma-gop-governors-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mccalls-ad-shakes-up-the-oklahoma-gop-governors-race\/","title":{"rendered":"McCall\u2019s ad shakes up the Oklahoma GOP Governor\u2019s race"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmccalls-ad-shakes-up-the-oklahoma-gop-governors-race%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2492724&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses oklahoma Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles McCall&#8217;s new television ad that centers on transgender issues, a key cultural conflict in the state&#8217;s GOP primary. In the ad, McCall uses a visual metaphor-cutting a banana with a knife-to emphasize his stance that gender is fixed and binary, stating &#8220;Gender is God given, and there&#8217;s only two of them.&#8221; This message aligns with McCall&#8217;s prior legislative efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-the-transgender-culture-war-leftists-fired-the-first-shot\/\" title=\"In The Trans... Culture War, Leftists Fired The First Shot\">restrict transgender rights<\/a>, including laws banning gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for minors as well as requiring school bathroom use based on birth sex.<\/p>\n<p>The ad also indirectly criticizes fellow candidate Attorney General Gentner Drummond for his 2023 agreement with the ACLU to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-temporarily-pauses-city-of-st-pauls-vaccine-mandate-for-police-unions\/\" title=\"Judge Temporarily Pauses City of St. Paul&#039;s Vaccine Mandate for Police Unions\">temporarily halt enforcement<\/a> of Oklahoma&#8217;s ban on transgender medical care for minors-a move that surprised Governor Kevin Stitt&#8217;s office. McCall&#8217;s campaign is supported by the Oklahoma Conservative Coalition, which has invested heavily in pushing these culture war themes, reflecting the potency of transgender-related issues in GOP primaries.<\/p>\n<p>Recent polls indicate a very close race between McCall and Drummond, with undecided voters still significant in number. McCall&#8217;s campaign has further sought to differentiate itself by launching a website criticizing Drummond for straying from the MAGA movement. Simultaneously occurring, Drummond&#8217;s campaign has not publicly responded to these attacks. McCall is leveraging conservative cultural issues to energize Republican primary voters in a tight gubernatorial contest. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">&lsquo;You first&rsquo;: Knife-wielding ad puts transgender debate at center of Oklahoma GOP Governor&rsquo;s primary<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2360099\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE &mdash;<\/strong><em> <\/em>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/oklahoma\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oklahoma <\/a>House Speaker Charles McCall is leaning hard into culture war themes as he tries to close the gap in the state&rsquo;s competitive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republican\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Republican<\/a> primary for governor.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Washington Examiner<\/em> obtained the first look at a new <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/kJoucLo5d8I?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">television ad<\/a> from Charles McCall, which will blanket the Oklahoma City and Tulsa markets and air statewide on Fox News cable and streaming. In the spot, McCall delivers a blunt message, standing in a kitchen with a large knife and chopping a banana in half to underscore his point: &ldquo;Cutting this banana does not make it an orange. Charles McCall, pro-Trump, anti-woke. Gender is God given, and there&rsquo;s only two of them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3828669\/crime-victims-charlotte-hearing-house-judiciary-iryna-zarutska-murder\/\">Crime victims beg Congress for action during Charlotte hearing following death of Iryna Zarutska<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3828646\/winsome-earle-sears-new-ad-abigail-spanberger-rage-comment-virginia-governor-race\/\">Earle-Sears releases new ad targeting Spanberger &#8216;rage&#8217; comment<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3828542\/byron-york-zohran-mamdani-gamble-gop-cynics\/\">Byron York warns of &lsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/byron-york-warns-of-enormous-gamble-for-gop-cynics-to-root-for-mamdani-to-win\/\" title=\"Byron York warns of \u2018enormous gamble\u2019 for GOP cynics to root for Mamdani to win\">enormous gamble&#038;rsquo<\/a>; for GOP cynics to root for Mamdani to win<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Charles McCall: Protecting Women and Children\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kJoucLo5d8I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The ad comes as Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who is also running for governor, faces scrutiny over his 2023 decision to enter an agreement with the ACLU to temporarily halt enforcement of Oklahoma&rsquo;s ban on transgender operations for minors. McCall&rsquo;s closing line, &ldquo;I have a simple message for any lunatic pushing sex change for kids. You first,&rdquo; appeared to be a veiled reference to that controversy.<\/p>\n<p>The spot also arrives after Gov. Kevin Stitt&rsquo;s office said it was blindsided by Drummond&rsquo;s move, stressing that the agreement with the ACLU was not coordinated with the governor. Drummond&rsquo;s office has defended the temporary stay as a way to buy time to mount a stronger legal defense.<\/p>\n<p>McCall has long aligned himself with legislation targeting transgender issues in Oklahoma. As House Speaker, he helped steer two major measures to the governor&rsquo;s desk: a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >2023 law banning transgender surgeries<\/a> and hormone treatments for minors, and a 2022 statute requiring public school students to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificate.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have long used transgender-related matters as a political cudgel against Democrats, but the issue <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3194182\/transgender-politics-2024-trump-harris-democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">broke through with voters in 2024<\/a> and remains potent in GOP primaries. The Oklahoma Conservative Coalition, which is backing McCall with $1.6 million, is banking on the message resonating with Republican voters.<\/p>\n<p>The ad&rsquo;s timing coincides with new polling showing a razor-thin contest between the two candidates. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbreak.com\/news-on-6-kotv-tulsa-1590911\/4263883320502-new-poll-shows-oklahoma-governor-s-race-tightening-between-mccall-and-drummond\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">survey<\/a> conducted by Stratus Intelligence from September 23&ndash;25 among 837 likely Republican primary voters found Drummond with 35% support and McCall at 33%, while 32% remained undecided.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;In a three-way ballot test including former state official Chip Keating, Drummond polled at 32%, McCall at 31%, and Keating at 6%. An expanded ballot with five candidates plus a &ldquo;someone else&rdquo; option showed Drummond at 29% and McCall at 27%, with other candidates in low single digits and nearly one-third of voters still undecided.<\/p>\n<p>McCall has zeroed in on transgender issues in a series of recent ads. Earlier this month, he ran a spot highlighting his role in pushing legislation to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/10-year-old-transgender-athlete-in-indiana-rejoins-school-softball-team-after-federal-judge-ruling\/\" title=\"10-year-old Trans... Athlete In Indiana Rejoins School Softball Team After Federal Judge Ruling\">bar transgender girls<\/a> from competing in girls&rsquo; sports, declaring: &ldquo;I led the charge to keep boys out of our daughters&rsquo; locker rooms and to protect women in sports.&rdquo; The ad closed with McCall vowing, &ldquo;You shouldn&rsquo;t question where your next governor stands. I stand with President Trump.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/925571\/oklahoma-governor-blindsided-by-attorney-generals-agreement-with-aclu-to-halt-child-transition-ban\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR BLINDSIDED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL&rsquo;S AGREEMENT WITH ACLU TO HALT CHILD TRANSITION BAN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In addition to the ad blitz, McCall&rsquo;s campaign launched a website on Sept. 9 called NeverTrumpDrummond.com. The website lists issues on which McCall argues Drummond has broken with the MAGA movement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Drummond&rsquo;s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You first&#8217;: Knife ad fuels transgender debate in Oklahoma GOP race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2492725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP17296598142190.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[39547,64309,64310],"class_list":["post-2492724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-governors-race","tag-mccalls-ad","tag-oklahoma-gop"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP17296598142190.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2492724"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2492728,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492724\/revisions\/2492728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2492725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2492724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2492724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2492724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}