What to Watch in Tuesday’s Primary Runoff Elections in South Carolina and Oklahoma
New York Times · LC · trust 54/100
President Trump’s endorsement track record is on the line in two races, including the high-profile contest to succeed the late Senator Lindsey Graham.
Share full article 0 President Trump’s endorsement record is on the line in the race to succeed the late Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina. Credit... Meg Kinnard/Associated Press By Patricia Mazzei and J. David Goodman
Mr. Trump’s choice to succeed the late Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina — Mr. Graham’s younger sister, Senator Darline Graham — is locked in a special runoff race against Representative Ralph Norman. The president was especially fond of Mr. Graham and campaigned last week for Ms. Graham, who was appointed to the Senate last month and now seeks a full, six-year term.
In Oklahoma, Mr. Trump backed Mike Mazzei, a former state lawmaker, over Gentner Drummond, the state’s attorney general, in another primary runoff, this one in the race to succeed Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who is term-limited.
The value of Mr. Trump’s support has been a persistent question in the midterms as his approval rating has dropped amid voter discontent over the economy and the Iran war. His picks have yet to lose in any Senate primaries.
Mr. Graham’s death last month forced a sprint of a special Republican Senate primary that would have been difficult for any contender. But it was perhaps especially so for Ms. Graham.
She is a first-time candidate and is little-known to G.O.P. voters, some of whom had a complicated view of her brother over his hawkish foreign policy positions and his past support for immigration reform. Then, in the only debate leading up to the runoff, she made what was widely seen as a gaffe when she stumbled through a question about the United States’ role with Taiwan and admitted that she was “not that informed on national security.” Ms. Graham’s strongest selling point has been Mr. Trump’s endorsement, which he underscored by traveling to Myrtle Beach on Friday for a rally.
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