COLUMBIA, S.C. — President Donald Trump scored a pair of badly needed primary victories Tuesday night as his endorsed candidates won Republican runoffs in both South Carolina and Oklahoma, boosting his claim that he retains a firm grip on the Republican Party heading into November's midterm elections.
In South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in the Republican Senate primary runoff, leading 52 percent to 48 percent with more than 95 percent of votes counted.
Trump had thrown himself into the race, campaigning for Graham in the state and urging supporters to vote as though his own name were on the ballot. "So what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot," Trump told supporters at a Friday rally.
Darline Graham was initially appointed to fill the remainder of her late brother Sen. Lindsey Graham's term. She now advances to the November 3 general election, where she will face Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician.
In Oklahoma, Trump-backed former state Sen. Mike Mazzei beat state Attorney General Gentner Drummond by approximately 2,000 votes in the GOP gubernatorial primary runoff. Trump had repeatedly attacked Drummond in part because he opposed a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter backed by the president.
The double sweep interrupts a bruising run for Trump, whose endorsed candidates had lost 10 Republican contests this cycle, including six in the previous two weeks, as his own approval ratings fell sharply. Despite the losses, Trump had insisted his endorsements were "stronger than ever."
