Delegates Paul Clayton of McAlester and Robert Demarest of Talihina voted for Paul, of Texas, who had sought the GOP presidential nomination.
Oklahoma's vote was announced in the Xcel Energy Center as all 41 votes going to McCain. Inhofe tried to get the attention of convention organizers so he could correct the mistake.
Convention workers eventually said that couldn't be done, possibly because the convention was running late. It was about 11 p.m. when it was Oklahoma's turn to announce its vote in the second round. Several states including Oklahoma abstained on the first round so McCain's home state of Arizona could announce the vote that would allow him to receive the nomination. Then the roll call resumed with the states that had abstained going in alphabetical order.
Convention officials assured Oklahoma that the official convention record would show McCain getting 39 votes and Paul getting two.
People "who watched it on TV saw that all 41 votes from Oklahoma went for John McCain, which is not the truth,” Demarest said.
Frustrated, he and his wife, Cheryl, ripped the Oklahoma patches off their blue blazers — part of the Oklahoma GOP's uniform — before leaving the convention center. They said they were done with Oklahoma's delegation.
Clayton also was upset.
"I just feel robbed,” he said. "All the money that I spent to come here ... the number of people that are counting on me to make that decision for them — it's just kind of emotionally shattering.”
The Demarests, Clayton and several other Paul supporters met with Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones after they returned to their Minneapolis hotel for an hour or so, and then the Paul supporters discussed it until about 4 a.m. Thursday.
Paul didn't receive any delegates during Oklahoma's presidential primary in February, but he picked up the two delegate votes when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won six votes, released his delegates. The other four Huckabee delegates joined with the 32 delegates won by McCain. Three state party officials who are delegates supported McCain as well.
Demarest and other Paul supporters talked with Inhofe, and they said Inhofe isn't to blame. Their disappointment is with convention officials.
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Above: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, prepares Wednesday to announce the Oklahoma delegation's presidential vote during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., only to have his microphone turned off before announcing two votes for Ron Paul. By Michael McNutt, The Oklahoman
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