Trump-backed candidates win SC, Oklahoma runoffs

US President Donald Trump's preferred candidates won Republican runoffs in South Carolina and Oklahoma on Tuesday, according to US media projections, giving him two victories after a series of recent defeats for candidates he endorsed.

In South Carolina, Senator Darline Graham defeated veteran congressman Ralph Norman, CNN and NBC projected. Trump had campaigned for Graham in the state and held a telephone rally on the eve of the vote, urging supporters to vote as if his own name were on the ballot.

In Oklahoma, Trump-backed Mike Mazzei won the Republican gubernatorial runoff against state attorney general Gentner Drummond, US media projected. Trump had criticised Drummond as a “fake Republican.”

Trump's endorsed candidates had lost 10 Republican contests this cycle, including six in the previous two weeks. Days before the runoffs, Trump said his endorsements were “stronger than ever” and argued that some recent losses involved candidates he knew faced difficult races.

The Trump-supporting MAGA Inc. political organisation spent more than $827,000 on voter calls and text messages in South Carolina. In Oklahoma, US media reported that more than $9 million had been spent on the runoff since Drummond narrowly finished ahead of Mazzei in the first round of voting in June.

Trump repeatedly criticised Drummond in part because Drummond opposed a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter backed by the president, arguing that it could damage local land and communities. Mazzei, a wealthy former state senator, publicly embraced the project shortly before Trump endorsed him.