Trump-backed candidates win Republican primaries in South Carolina and Oklahoma

Two candidates backed by U.S. President Donald Trump won in the runoff rounds of the Republican primary elections in South Carolina and Oklahoma yesterday, according to U.S. media tallies, bolstering his claim that he still wields broad influence within the party’s base.

Trump played a major role in the contests, campaigning for Graham in South Carolina and urging his supporters to vote as if his name were on the ballot.

Mike Cason, backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary runoff for governor of Oklahoma, defeating the state’s attorney general, Gentry Drummond, whom Trump had previously attacked and labeled a “fake Republican.”