South Carolina’s Republican voters went to the polls on Saturday to choose a candidate for president, with two significant choices left: the state’s former governor, Nikki Haley, and former president Donald Trump.
Haley lost the New Hampshire primary last month by about 11 points, and polling suggested Trump would defeat his former ambassador to the United Nations by about 2-1 in her home state.
The result was resounding in Trump’s favor.
Here are the results of the primary election held on Saturday 24 February:
Republicans running
Donald Trump
The former US president’s campaign to retake the White House and once again grab his party’s nomination got off to a slow start that was widely mocked. But after decisive wins in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, his campaign has steadily moved into a position of dominance.
Trump declined to attend any of the Republican debates, and has used his court appearances and many legal woes as a rallying cry to mobilize his base. His extremist rhetoric, especially around his plans for a second term and the targeting of his political enemies, has sparked widespread fears over the threat to American democracy that his candidacy represents.
His political style during the campaign has not shifted from his previous runs in 2016 and 2020 and, if anything, has become more extreme. Many see this as a result of his political and legal fates becoming entwined, with a return to the Oval Office being seen as Trump’s best chance of nixing his legal problems.
Nikki Haley
The former South Carolina governor and ex-US ambassador to the United Nations under Trump has mostly hewed a fine line between being an alternative to Trump, while not outraging his base. But she has recently also positioned herself as the only viable younger candidate against both Trump and Joe Biden.
That has paid off to some extent as Haley shone in debates and fundraising and rose past her competitors for the No 2 slot in the Republican race. But after losing by sizable margins in Iowa and New Hampshire, and most embarrassingly in Nevada, Haley’s chances have dwindled. Even so, she has vowed to stay in the race, even beyond South Carolina.
Ryan Binkley
Binkley, a Texas businessman, is a long-shot candidate who is also a pastor at Create church. The self-proclaimed far-right fiscal conservative criticized both Democrats and Republicans for not being able to balance the federal budget, and said he would focus on health costs, immigration reform and a national volunteer movement.
