Trumpbacked candidates win

PHILADELPHIA: Republican candidates endorsed by former US president Donald Trump won their party’s nod to run for the US Senate in North Carolina and for governor in Pennsylvania yesterday, key races that will help shape the November midterm elections.

Pennsylvania state Senator Doug Mastriano, who has amplified Trump’s false claims of 2020 voter fraud, will face Democratic Attorneygeneral Josh Shapiro in a highprofile governor’s race.

In Pennsylvania’s US Senate race, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman won the Democratic nomination despite having been in hospital since last week after suffering a stroke.

Fetterman, a progressive Democrat whose victory over centrist US congressman Conor Lamb came hours after he had a pacemaker implanted to address irregular heart rhythms, has said doctors expect a full recovery.

His Republican opponent remains to be decided, with TV wellness celebrity Mehmet Oz — endorsed by Trump — essentially deadlocked with former hedge fund executive David McCormick with just under twothirds of the vote counted, according to Edison Research.

In North Carolina, US congressman Madison Cawthorn, backed by Trump, conceded defeat to a rival Republican in a closely watched primary after a series of scandals, according to media reports. Another Trumpendorsed candidate, US Representative Ted Budd, won the state’s Republican Senate nomination. — Reuters