{"id":2649847,"date":"2026-08-26T09:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T13:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-backed-candidates-triumph-in-latest-endorsement-power-test\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T10:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T14:03:17","slug":"trump-backed-candidates-triumph-in-latest-endorsement-power-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-backed-candidates-triumph-in-latest-endorsement-power-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump-backed candidates triumph in latest endorsement power test"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-backed-candidates-triumph-in-latest-endorsement-power-test%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2649847&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>On Tuesday night, president Donald Trump\u2019s endorsements resulted in notable victories in primary races. In south Carolina, Darline Graham Nordone secured her Senate primary win over Ralph Norman, outperforming poll expectations, and will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in the general election. In Oklahoma, Mike Mazzei narrowly defeated Attorney General Gentner Drummond in the gubernatorial runoff and will compete against Cyndi Munson. Trump credited his support, including tele-rallies and important spending from his Super PAC, for helping these candidates. While Trump experienced mixed results in gubernatorial races elsewhere,his influence appeared strong in these key Republican primaries,emphasizing the ongoing testing of his endorsement power ahead of future elections.Both contested seats are considered safe Republican picks by election forecasters.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"4\">Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> endorsement power earned two more victories on Tuesday night, as Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/darline-graham-nordone\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"23139\">Darline Graham Nordone<\/a> (R-SC) and Oklahoma Republican <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4700252\/mazzei-drummond-republican-runoff-oklahoma-governor\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"4700252\">Mike Mazzei<\/a> each won their competitive and much-anticipated primary races.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2026 Republican primary season has been laced with tests of Trump\u2019s endorsement power as the president has chosen to weigh in on GOP races and actively play his hand in the midterm elections. His results have been somewhat mixed, with some notable <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4613491\/trump-endorsement-power-may-slip-governor-races-georgia\/\">losses in gubernatorial races<\/a> in states such as Georgia and Iowa, but significant wins in hotly watched congressional races in states such as Kentucky and Louisiana.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4700582\/trump-backed-candidates-graham-nordone-mazzei-latest-endorsement-power-test\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump-backed candidates triumph in latest endorsement power test<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4692793\/second-dan-sullivan-advances-alaska-senate\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Second Dan Sullivan advances to Alaska Senate\u2019s general election<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4700286\/iowa-candidates-cancer-crisis-midterm-elections\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>How Iowa\u2019s marquee candidates aim to combat state\u2019s surging cancer crisis<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tuesday night produced a strong outcome for the power of Trump\u2019s nod on both the congressional and gubernatorial side of the ballot. Graham Nordone secured her win over Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ralph-norman\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"4637\">Ralph Norman<\/a> (R-SC) in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/south-carolina\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"524\">South Carolina\u2019s<\/a> special GOP Senate primary, winning by 4.9 percentage points, while Mazzei toppled <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/oklahoma\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"715\">Oklahoma<\/a> Attorney General Gentner Drummond in the state\u2019s GOP gubernatorial runoff race by a 0.6 percentage point margin.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both Mazzei and Graham Nordone were in neck-and-neck margins in the lead up to their runoffs, with Trump\u2019s endorsement poised to make a tangible impact in the vote results. Mazzei\u2019s runoff election, in particular, was a bellwether test for Trump on election day, as his opponent, Drummond, ran on an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4698304\/oklahoma-primary-sets-maga-candidate-against-anti-tariff-conservative\/\">anti-tariff agenda<\/a>. In his victory speech, Mazzei thanked Trump for helping his campaign \u201cacross the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe had 38,000 Republicans on the line with me yesterday,\u201d Mazzei told his crowd of supporters, referring to a tele-rally Trump hosted for him. \u201cMany of you enjoyed that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Along with his election-eve tele-rally for Mazzei, Trump\u2019s Make America Great Again Inc. Super PAC poured <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4698678\/maga-inc-donations-south-carolina-senate-race-boost-darline-graham-nordone\/\">almost $828,000 <\/a>into Graham Nordone\u2019s bid to replace her brother, late Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lindsey-graham\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"737\">Lindsey Graham<\/a>, in the upper chamber in the home stretch of her race.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The president <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/117161576325328403\">celebrated<\/a> the wins Wednesday morning, saying: \u201cI supported and ENDORSED two so-called \u201cunderdogs\u201d yesterday, one from South Carolina, and the other from Oklahoma, and they BOTH WON. Two great people!!!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s boost also seemingly helped carry Graham Nordone over the finish line, as her margin of victory over Norman outperformed poll expectations that had her in a razor-thin margin against or <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4699074\/ralph-norman-darline-graham-nordone-south-carolina-primary-poll\/\">trailing<\/a> Norman. Mazzei\u2019s polls also showed a neck-and-neck race, with the latest poll showing an even race.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4696875\/graham-nordone-leans-on-trump-rescue-senate-bid-after-debate-gaffe-russell-fry\/\"><strong>GRAHAM NORDONE LEANS ON TRUMP TO RESCUE SENATE BID AFTER DEBATE GAFFE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Graham Nordone will now take on Democratic nominee and doctor Annie Andrews in the general election, while Mazzei will face off against Democratic state Rep. Cyndi Munson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both South Carolina\u2019s Senate seat and Oklahoma\u2019s governor\u2019s seat are deemed solidly Republican seats by election forecasters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump&#8217;s endorsements secure key wins in SC and Oklahoma primaries<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":2649848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-collage-x9xcvuu03-1787742496656-e1787748116282.jpg?1787731951&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6571,21510,5894,3634],"class_list":["post-2649847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-elections","tag-endorsements","tag-politics","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-collage-x9xcvuu03-1787742496656-e1787748116282.jpg?1787731951&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2649847"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2649850,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649847\/revisions\/2649850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2649848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2649847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2649847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2649847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}