Voting is underway in South Carolina for the fourth Republican contest of the 2024 election cycle, with former President Donald Trump heavily favored to win the state over its former governor, Nikki Haley, whose longshot candidacy hangs on success in her home state.
Former President Donald Trump is heavily favored in the state over Nikki Haley, South Carolina's ... [+]
Voting opened in South Carolina at 7 a.m. EST and will continue until 7 p.m., though voters can still cast votes as long as they are queued at the poll’s closing time.
Results are expected shortly after polls close, as the Associated Press reported the first polling results for the Democratic primary earlier this month at 7:08 p.m., later calling the race for President Joe Biden at 7:23 p.m.
Trump holds a 27 percentage point lead over Haley, who’s projected to receive 34% of the vote, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average, though Haley leads Trump by 21 points among liberals and moderates, according to a Suffolk University/USA Today poll released earlier this week of voters who said they already cast their ballots or were “very likely” to vote in the primary.
About 4% of registered voters voted in the state’s Democratic primary earlier this month, suggesting a larger share of voters could turn out for the Republican contest.
South Carolina’s presidential primaries aren’t limited to registered voters of either party since the state does not have registration by party, though voters are restricted to voting in only one primary.
Trump’s campaign criticized Haley’s nomination efforts in a memo earlier this week as “broken down, out of ideas, out of gas and completely outperformed by every measure,” adding Haley is a “wailing loser hell-bent on an alternative reality.” Trump’s campaign also projected he would win all 50 of South Carolina’s delegates.
3.2 million. That’s the number of registered voters in South Carolina. About 25% of registered voters—just over 745,000 people—participated in the 2016 Republican primary.
Trump is projected to cruise to securing the Republican nomination, after already winning contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Haley has said she would remain in the GOP primary until Super Tuesday on March 5 even if she loses South Carolina, adding she feels “no need to kiss the ring” because she has “no fear of Trump’s retribution.” Haley has argued for her candidacy as an alternative to Biden and Trump, whom voters suggest they don’t want to see run again. In the 2016 South Carolina Republican primary, Trump lost only two counties. Those counties, Richland and Charleston, are the second- and third-most populous counties in the state.
Michigan will hold the next Republican primary on Tuesday. Trump is projected to win the state by an overwhelming margin with nearly 80% of the vote, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average.
Biden Wins South Carolina Primary (Forbes)