Trump’s endorsed candidates again scored key GOP primary wins this week, with Darline Graham taking South Carolina’s Senate runoff and Mike Mazzei winning Oklahoma’s gubernatorial nomination by about 2,000 votes.
Those victories reinforced Trump’s broader primary clout: his endorsees are 24-for-24 in Senate races, 214-for-218 in House contests and 16-for-21 in gubernatorial primaries, according to Fox News’ tracker.
South Carolina showed the limits of that influence as well. Trump’s earlier pick for governor, Pamela Evette, lost her runoff in a landslide, and Trump then also endorsed winner Alan Wilson days before that vote.
Five Trump-backed gubernatorial candidates have lost this cycle, and two endorsed House incumbents—Andy Ogles and Cory Mills—also fell, suggesting endorsements can boost weak candidates but not erase deeper liabilities.
The mixed record still points to Trump’s dominant hold over GOP primaries, even as recent losses show his backing is powerful rather than automatic.