Election Tuesday: Trump's candidates in South Carolina and Oklahoma won the Republican primaries

The Trumpist candidate for the Senate from South Carolina, Darline Graham, won the Republican primary on Tuesday night and will compete in the general elections in November for a seat historically held by her brother, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, which is shaping up to be a safe stronghold for the establishment.

Graham defeated Congressman Ralph Norman after garnering approximately 53.3% of the votes in the runoff. Norman had the backing of former governor and Republican figure Nikki Haley, whose relationship with the MAGA movement has been contentious in recent years and remains tense.

The victory of Graham marks a political milestone: we are talking about the victory of a candidate who had never held a political office in her life before being appointed to succeed her brother in the Senate. Thus, this result reaffirms Trump's influence over Republican voters. Last Friday, the president visited South Carolina to personally ask the electorate to support his candidate at a rally they both attended.

During the campaign, Graham defended pro-life positions and called for a legal ban on biological men competing in women's sports categories. "Lindsey taught me that public service is not about titles, but about helping people. President Trump asked me to run for the Senate to work alongside him on the priorities that matter to us," said the winner, recalling her brother's legacy.

At the same time, Trump's influence was felt in another internal contest held on the same Tuesday in the state of Oklahoma. There, former state senator Mike Mazzei won the Republican nomination to compete for the governorship of that state, in a territory also recognized as a Trump stronghold.