Trump-backed candidates win 2 of 3 races in Georgia, Alabama runoffs

ATLANTA, GA. – He was not on the ballot, but he was president. donald trumpTrump’s immense influence over the Republican Party faced more key tests Tuesday in high-stakes Republican runoffs in Georgia and neighboring Alabama.

While the power of Trump’s endorsement in the Republican primaries did not escape unscathed, Trump-backed candidates won two of the three major elections, with the only setback coming against a billionaire businessman who shelled out more than $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign.

Rep. Barry Moore, a member of the House Freedom Caucus and a longtime Trump supporter who had the president’s backing, handily defeated rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper who had the support of some big names on the right, in the solidly saved Alabama Republican Senate runoff.

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In Georgia’s Republican Senate runoffs, a last-minute endorsement by Trump last weekend helped propel Rep. Mike Collins, a MAGA champion, to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who had the backing of popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

Collins will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the general election, in a race that will likely decide whether the GOP maintains its slim majority in the chamber in the midterms.

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But in the Georgia GOP gubernatorial runoff, Trump’s endorsed candidate, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was also endorsed by Kemp last weekend, was defeated by Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider.

Jones regularly showed his support for Trump, but Jackson, who launched his candidacy in February long after the president endorsed Jones, repeatedly said that Trump had inspired him to run.

“I just thought, you know, if you had someone who was doing business solutions for the state of Georgia, just like Trump is for the United States, I felt like he would have a big impact on the state of Georgia, and that was one of the reasons I wanted to come in. I was inspired by President Trump,” Jackson told Fox News Digital recently.

And he continually stressed that, like Trump, he is an outsider and a businessman. “I’m going to be Trump’s favorite governor because we are similar in the way we handle business and problems, and I want to do exactly in Georgia what he is doing in the federal government,” he reiterated in an interview with Fox News Digital on Sunday.

TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT DOES NOT SAVE THE MAGA CANDIDATE

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in Republican primaries over the past six weeks, with his candidates toppling incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that drew much national attention.

But Trump’s streak of support in state and Republican congressional primaries was broken two weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed outgoing Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds was not enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged out by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who had backing from the political wings of MAHA (the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Trump bounced back last week, when the candidate he endorsed in South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished first in a crowded field and grabbed one of two tickets in the nomination race.

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump ally, won the majority of votes in the Senate Republican primary and avoided a runoff.

Graham, who was backed by Trump, faced primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who targeted the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch had the backing of some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.

A Trump political operative, pointing to Tuesday’s loss by Trump-backed Jones, noted that “Rick Jackson set a spending record in a statewide Republican primary. He spent Tom Steyer-level money in a state a fraction the size of California. That will have an impact.”

And the agent, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, also emphasized that “Rick embraced Trump. All of his ads and material were about how Trump’s favorite governor will be. So the race wasn’t really a referendum on Trump.”

Veteran Republican strategist Matt Gorman told Fox News Digital that “Rick was a great candidate. Trump’s endorsement can’t do all the work. It’s a huge value-add, but it’s not a panacea. Now the focus is on getting us together for the fall.”

Jackson received a last-minute endorsement from Sen. Ted Cruz, and the Texas conservative firebrand joined Jackson on the campaign trail for a rally on the eve of the runoff.

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“Rick has an extraordinary record, an extraordinary life story. And I also think he’s positioned to win. And the stakes are high. This election is a battleground across the country. We can’t afford to lose Georgia,” Cruz told Fox News Digital.

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When Cruz endorsed Jackson on Friday, he also endorsed South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who will face Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in a week.

When asked if he was trying to put some light between himself and the president on the campaign trail, Cruz quickly responded: “No. Not even remotely… The president and I agree in the vast majority of races. What I try to do in every race is back the strongest conservative who can win. And I usually come to races late in the race, at a time when my support could make a difference and be helpful.”