The Latest: Primary elections in Alabama, Oklahoma and Georgia further test Trump's influence

Primary and runoff elections in Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma on Tuesday are offering a fresh measure of Donald Trump’s influence over Republican voters and candidates across the South.

The day’s contests include a Georgia Senate runoff between Rep. Mike Collins and former football coach Derek Dooley, an Alabama GOP Senate runoff between Rep. Barry Moore and former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson, and crowded Republican primaries in Oklahoma for governor and a U.S. Senate seat.

Trump has backed Collins in Georgia and Moore in Alabama, while other prominent Republicans have split from him in some of the races. That gives the election slate an added test of whether the former president can still shape the party’s nominations and settle internal disputes.

Georgia’s runoff and governor’s race

In Georgia, Republican voters are choosing between Collins and Dooley in a Senate runoff after no candidate won outright.

Outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp is backing Dooley, while Trump is backing Collins. The split highlights a familiar intraparty divide in a state that remains one of the party’s most closely watched battlegrounds.

Georgia Republicans are also deciding their nominee for governor. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is competing against billionaire Rick Jackson for the GOP nomination, adding another high-profile race to Tuesday’s ballot.

Georgia’s runoff rules require a majority to win, which is why the Senate contest advanced to a second round. The result will help show whether Trump’s endorsement still carries enough weight to overcome alternative Republican alliances.

Alabama and Oklahoma

In Alabama, Moore and Hudson are facing off in a GOP Senate runoff for the right to advance to the general election. Trump has endorsed Moore, making that contest another direct test of whether his backing still translates into a nomination.

Oklahoma is also choosing nominees for governor and Senate in crowded Republican fields. AP reports that Trump-backed Rep. Kevin Hern helped clear the field in the Senate race, while the governor’s contest remains open enough that a runoff is still possible if no candidate reaches 50%.

The Oklahoma Senate seat opened after Markwayne Mullin left the chamber to become Homeland Security secretary, according to AP. Alabama’s Senate seat is open because Tommy Tuberville is running for governor.

Those open seats and crowded fields have made both states especially sensitive to endorsements, alliances and late-breaking voter coalitions. They also set up November contests in which the Republican nominee will be expected to defend seats or offices in states that lean heavily GOP.

What to watch next

Election officials and campaigns will be watching vote totals and runoff outcomes closely as the night unfolds, especially in Georgia and Alabama. In Oklahoma, the key question is whether candidates consolidate enough support to avoid additional rounds or whether the field remains unsettled.

Democrats in these states are also dealing with internal strategy debates, including tensions between moderates and progressives, but the main public focus on Tuesday remains the Republican side and Trump’s influence over it.

The broader political question is whether Trump’s endorsements still convert into wins, or whether local rivalries, split endorsements and candidate-specific dynamics are weakening his hold on the party.

What happens next will show whether Trump’s endorsements convert into nominations, merely keep candidates competitive, or fall short against local counterweights and factional splits.