Donald Trump’s influence in the US political system is being put to the test in almost every primary race. This week’s election in West Virginia and Nebraska were, however, bittersweet for the former US President.

While endorsing a flurry of candidates for the primary elections, Trump extended his support to both incumbents and newcomers. These included Alex Mooney, Charles Herbster and Carol Miller among others.

Also Read: Nebraska primaries marred by groping allegation against Trump endorsed candidate

With a lot more political capital invested in the West Virginia and Nebraska elections, Trump left out Representative Don Bacon. Instead, Trump went ahead to back his electoral rival Steve Kuehl.

The Republican had previously criticised Trump for the January 6 riots and even voted in favour of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, according to reports from Politico.

In this round of elections, Trump only played half of his cards right. Only three of his endorsed candidates won the polls in Nebraska and West Virginia. These include Representative Alex Mooney (West Virginia- Congressional district 1), Carol Miller (West Virginia – Congressional district 2) and Adrian Smith (Nebraska- Congressional district 3.)

For the governor’s office of Nebraska, Trump picked a highly controversial candidate. Charles Herbster, a political newcomer, has been linked to multiple sexual harassment allegations and has been accused of groping multiple women. Herbster lost to Jim Pillen.

In Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, in the Omaha area, three-term Republican Representative Don Bacon won the primary over long-shot candidate Steve Kuehl, an Omaha consultant who got a shoutout from Trump when the former president visited earlier this month.

Also Read: Ohio, Indiana primaries hint Donald Trump still has kingmaker clout in GOP

Senator Mike Flood, a former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, won in the state’s 1st Congressional District over five other Republican candidates, according to Associated Press. He had not been backed by the former President.

In the general election, Mooney will face openly gay former Morgantown city councilor Barry Wendell, who bested security operations manager Angela Dwyer during Tuesday’s Democratic primary.