South Carolina Senator Darline Graham defeated longtime Congressman Ralph Norman, according to forecasts from broadcasters CNN and NBC. D. Trump actively engaged in this race, campaigning for D. Graham in the state and urging supporters to vote as if his own name were on the ballot.
Trump-backed Mike Mazzei won the second round of the Oklahoma Republican gubernatorial election against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, whom the president attacked as a “fake Republican.”
This victory ended a losing streak for Trump, during which his endorsed candidates lost 10 Republican elections in this cycle, including six in the past two weeks, while his own popularity ratings sharply declined.
Trump traveled to South Carolina to campaign for D. Graham and addressed a rally by phone on the eve of voting.
“So I really want you to pretend, please, that I am on the ballot,” Trump said at the rally on Friday.
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The political organization supporting Trump, “MAGA Inc.,” also spent more than $827,000 (709,140 euros) on voter calls and text messages – a rare use of its reserves in this year’s primaries.
US media reports that more than $9 million (7.72 million euros) has been spent in Oklahoma’s second round since G. Drummond narrowly beat M. Mazzei in the first round in June.
Trump repeatedly attacked G. Drummond partly because he opposed the president-backed $4 billion (3.43 billion euros) aluminum smelter project, claiming it could harm local land and communities.
Wealthy former state senator M. Mazzei publicly supported the project just before Trump endorsed him.
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