WASHINGTON (AP) — An endorsement from President Donald Trump is worth a lot in Republican primaries. But is it worth more than $100 million in Georgia? Can it propel a sitting congressman past an insurgent outsider in Alabama? Can it transform a candidate into a front-runner in Oklahoma? This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
Trump has been at the center of this year's midterm campaigns, and his influence will be tested in different ways on Tuesday as four states and the District of Columbia hold primaries.
Among Democrats, the primaries will hinge on longstanding divides between progressives and moderates as the party tries to chart the best path forward to November.
Here are a few things to watch as voters go to the polls in Alabama, California, the District of Columbia, Georgia and Oklahoma.
Nothing is certain in politics, but a "complete and total endorsement" from Trump is about the surest path possible to winning a Republican primary.
Rick Jackson is testing that truism in his campaign for Georgia governor. The health care tycoon, who faces Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a runoff, has given his campaign more than $100 million to try and convince Republican primary voters to overlook Trump's advice.
Trump endorsed Jones more than a year ago and reiterated his support last week, praising Jones' "Courage and Wisdom" in a social media post on June 8. Rarely has the power of Trump's endorsement been tested against such a lopsided spending disparity.
Jones finished first with 38% and Jackson second with 33% in the May 19 primary. Now the election to lead one of the nation's pre-eminent battleground states will be decided by the voters who didn't back either of them.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma's Republican primary for governor will test Trump's endorsement in a different way. There, the president weighed in late, throwing his support two weeks ago to former state Sen. Mike Mazzei among a crowded field without a clear front-runner. The race will go to a runoff if no candidate gets a majority.
Trump is used to getting his way, but earlier this month his choice for governor of Iowa, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, lost to Zach Lahn in the state's primary.
Trump rose to power as an outsider, the head of a "Make America Great Again" movement keen to bulldoze the old political order. But now the onetime insurgent sits atop a sprawling establishment.