Contact The Editor
Articles By This Author
President Donald Trump's endorsed candidate won in a high-profile South Carolina Senate primary on Tuesday - a victory not only for Sen. Darline Graham, but for Trump, who invested both time and money to turn around his streak of losing endorsements.
And across the country, another Trump-endorsed candidate won Tuesday night, although narrowly, in a primary runoff for Oklahoma governor.
Graham, whom Trump backed for a six-year term after her brother Lindsey Graham unexpectedly died last month, beat Rep. Ralph Norman in a runoff election that had sharply divided Republicans in South Carolina and beyond, despite the president weighing in.
In Oklahoma, Trump-backed Mike Mazzei, a former state senator, beat Attorney General Gentner Drummond by a razor-thin margin. Drummond has at times criticized Trump on issues like tariffs and beef imports.
Trump traveled, spent cash for Graham -- and it worked
The president's efforts to help get Graham over the finish line ultimately paid off - and they far exceeded what he has done for most other candidates he has endorsed in primaries. It showed that while the power of Trump's mere endorsement has slipped, the president can still wield significant sway over GOP voters if he is willing to make an in-person appeal.
Trump made a rare trip to campaign in a primary race, visiting Myrtle Beach on Friday to rally for Graham in an effort to drive up turnout.
"What I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot," Trump told the crowd. "Just come and vote. It's so important."
Horry County - where Trump held the rally in Myrtle Beach, and an area with many retirees and transplants - showed particularly strong numbers for Graham.
Not only did Trump campaign, his aligned super PAC, MAGA Inc., spent more than $825,000 over the weekend on get-out-the vote calls on Graham's behalf - marking the first time this year his political operation has deployed its large reserves of cash.
The travel and spending reflected the Trump team's concern about notching a win in a primary runoff it expected would be close, given the support Norman appeared to be garnering throughout the runoff campaign.
Norman was heavily outspent in the fast-paced runoff election, which followed an Aug. 11 primary in which Graham fell well short of 50 percent of the vote. Graham and her allies spent more than $7 million on television ads in the two-week period, according to the tracking firm AdImpact, while Norman's camp spent $2 million.
Trump's candidate won in Oklahoma
Trump's endorsement proved helpful in the governor's race in Oklahoma, where former state senator Mike Mazzei narrowly won a competitive primary runoff against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
Trump backed Mazzei earlier this year ahead of a crowded June 16 primary, but it was not enough to advance Mazzei to the front of the pack. Drummond led the June primary by less than a percentage point, with Mazzei coming in second.
The runoff stayed competitive, with each candidate spending more than $9 million up to the election. Trump continued to voice his support for Mazzei, calling Drummond a "RINO" - or, Republican in name only. Drummond presented himself as ideologically in line with the president, though he publicly criticized Trump's policy on tariffs and beef imports. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who was limited from running for a third term, also endorsed Mazzei.
Graham's win follows Trump candidate's June defeat in S.C., other losses
Before Tuesday's runoff win for Graham, Trump was embarrassed in the June gubernatorial primary in South Carolina. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, the candidate he first endorsed for governor, failed to gain traction with the state's Republican electorate.
Days before the June runoff election, as polls showed Evette losing, Trump issued a dual endorsement for her and Attorney General Alan Wilson, who won the nomination.
In recent weeks and months, candidates endorsed by Trump have lost primaries in several states, including gubernatorial candidates in Iowa, Georgia, Minnesota and, last week, in Wyoming. Incumbent Republicans with Trump's backing, Reps. Andy Ogles and Cory Mills, recently lost their primaries in Tennessee and Florida, respectively, with Trump in both cases saying afterward that they were always doomed to lose.
During the South Carolina runoff, Trump was careful not to bash Norman - which could have been a sign that the president, who is rarely shy about offering criticism, thought there was a chance Norman could end up serving in the Senate.
Despite Norman's endorsement of Nikki Haley for president in 2024 - a fact Norman told The Washington Post that Trump brought up when Norman asked for his backing last month - Trump resisted calling him a "RINO" or attacking him on social media or when campaigning for Graham.
Graham succeeded despite lacking policy chops, longtime MAGA cred
Graham, who had never before run for office and wasn't previously active in Republican politics outside campaigning for her brother, couldn't hide her lack of experience.
She made headlines after admitting during a debate with Norman that she was "not that informed on national security," after being asked a question about Taiwan.
In other moments captured on video, Graham said she was unsure about certain policies surrounding certain abortion restrictions and a program giving deportation protection to some immigrants brought into the country illegally as children.
A number of pro-Norman conservative influencers highlighted her flubs, while Graham - and Trump - portrayed them as proof that she was authentic and laser-focused on kitchen-table economic issues.
(COMMENT, BELOW)