Multiple media outlets called the South Carolina Republican primary for former President Donald Trump within minutes of polls closing, dealing a resounding blow to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s presidential bid.
According to NBC News, Trump secured 59.8% of the vote, with 99% of the expected vote in. Haley earned 39.5%.
Despite suffering defeat in her home state, Haley did not suspend her campaign. She had previously promised to stay in the race through at least Super Tuesday on March 5. There is one more Republican primary before then though: Michigan on February 27.
“I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run. I’m a woman of my word,” Haley said when addressing supporters Saturday night, according to the Associated Press.
“Our country will fall apart if we make the wrong choices. This has never been about me or my political future. We need to beat Joe Biden in November. I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden,” she said, per The New York Times.
For his part, Trump celebrated the evening’s win, claiming that polls suggest he would win the Super Tuesday primaries but much wider margins.
“I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,” the former president said.
“This is a fantastic evening. It’s an early evening and a fantastic [one]. So you can all go down and you can celebrate for about 15 minutes then we have to get back to work,” he added.
Initial exit polls conducted by CNN indicated that around 80% of Republican primary voters identified themselves as “conservative,” and more than 40% said they were “very conservative.”
Pollsters surveyed just over 1,500 Republican primary voters at roughly 40 polling locations around South Carolina on Saturday.
Interestingly, an overwhelming majority of voters (more than 75%) interviewed said they had already made up their minds as to who they would vote for before 2024.
Among voters who said they voted for Trump, roughly 90% said they voted “in support of him, rather than against his opponent.” In contrast, about 40% of Haley voters said their vote was motivated by their opposition to Trump, according to CNN’s exit poll.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Trump has been steamrolling the competition on his way to the Republican nomination, securing strong victories in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.
In Nevada, which held both a primary and a caucus, Trump handily won the caucus. Haley did not appear on the caucus ballot. However, in the primary, Trump did not appear on the ballot, but Haley still lost to the “None of These Candidates” option.