Donald Trump’s favoured candidates are facing their GOP rivals today in Pennsylvania and North Carolina while elsewhere races are being held in Kentucky, Oregon and Idaho.
In Pennsylvania, Mr Trump has endorsed Dr Mehmet Oz, the celebrity TV doctor who hopes to capture the GOP’s nomination to succeed retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey. Dr Oz is facing a stunning late-in-the-day surge by “ultra-Maga” candidate Kathy Barnette – reflecting problems of his own, in particular a lack of enthusiasm among conservatives. He has also notably refused to repeat Mr Trump’s mantra that the 2020 election was stolen, a particularly risky move given that the state where he’s running is one of the ex-president’s fixations.
Meanwhile, the former president’s pick for the open US Senate seat in North Carolina is Ted Budd – whom most pollsters say holds a comfortable lead over Pat McCrory, the state’s former govenor.
Madison Cawthorn, the embattled first-term congressman who has been buried under a heap of scandals in recent months, is also hoping to prevail in the contested primary for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district. He apparently remains in the lead, though polling has been sparse.
