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

ATLANTA, GA. – It wasn’t on the ballot paper, but the President Donald Trump‘s enormous influence over the GOP faces more significant tests Tuesday in high-stakes Republican runoff elections in Georgia and neighboring Alabama.

While the strength of Trump’s support in the Republican primaries did not escape unscathed, Trump-backed candidates won two of the top three races; One defeat came against a billionaire businessman who spent more than $100 million of his own money to support his campaign.

Rep. Barry Moore, a member of the House Freedom Caucus and a longtime Trump supporter backed by the president, comfortably defeated challenger Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper backed by some top figures on the right, in Alabama’s deep-red GOP Senate runoff.

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In the battleground Georgia Republican Senate runoffs, Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement last weekend helped MAGA champion Rep. Mike Collins to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who is backed by popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

Collins will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the general election, one of a handful of races that will decide whether the GOP can maintain its slim majority in the chamber in the midterm elections.

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But in the GOP gubernatorial runoff in Georgia, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the Trump-backed candidate who was also backed by Kemp last weekend, lost to Rick Jackson, who was running as an outside candidate.

Jones has regularly flaunted his support for Trump, but Jackson, who launched his bid in February long after the president endorsed Jones, has repeatedly said Trump inspired him to run.

“I felt like if there was someone doing business solutions for the state of Georgia, just like Trump did for the United States, I would make a huge impact on the state of Georgia, and so that was one of the reasons I wanted to join. I was inspired by President Trump,” Jackson recently told Fox News Digital.

And he constantly emphasized that he, like Trump, was a foreigner and a businessman. “I’m going to be Trump’s favorite governor because we’re the same when it comes to getting things done and solving problems, and I want to do in Georgia exactly what he did in the federal government,” he said in an interview on Fox News Digital on Sunday.

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The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past six weeks; His candidates toppled the incumbents they targeted in showdowns that drew huge national attention in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas.

But Trump’s streak of endorsements in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped two weeks ago when his 11th-hour endorsement of retiring Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to win GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds was not enough to lift the three-term congressman to victory.

To Feenstra, there was little difference between Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist backed by the political wings of MAHA (an acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Zach Lahn raises his fist in celebration after defeating his primary opponent in Iowa’s GOP gubernatorial race on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Zach Lahn for the Governor via Facebook)

Trump rebounded last week when Lt. Gov. Pamela Akşamte, the candidate he supported in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, finished first in a crowded field and took one of two tickets in the race for the nomination.

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

Graham, who is backed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who targeted the senator for his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was supported by some MAGA leaders who were critical of the president.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson speaks to supporters at a campaign stop in Alpharetta, Ga., on June 14, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

One of Trump’s political operatives pointed out that Trump-backed Jones lost on Tuesday and said: “Rick Jackson broke a spending record in the statewide Republican primaries. He spent Tom Steyer’s level of money in a very small state in California. This will have an impact.”

The operator, who requested anonymity to speak more freely, also emphasized: “Rick embraced Trump. All his ads and materials were about him being Trump’s favorite governor. So the race wasn’t really a referendum on Trump.”

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

Jackson was endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz at the last minute, and the Texas conservative ardent joined Jackson on the campaign trail for a runoff-eve rally.

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

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

Asked if he was trying to create some clarity between himself and the president on the campaign trail, Cruz quickly responded: “No. Not remotely… The president and I are on the same page in the vast majority of races. What I try to do in every race is to support the strongest conservatives who can win. And I usually enter races at a time when my support can make a difference and help.”