Democrats are urging their voters not to cast ballots for Nikki Haley in South Carolina’s primary amid fears she would beat Joe Biden in a White House run.

South Carolina’s open primary system allows for voters to participate in either the Republican or Democratic primary. Voters can choose which to attend on the day.

With Mr Biden considered a safe bet for the presidential nomination, Democrats in South Carolina may be tempted to skip the Democratic primary for the Republican one and cast their vote for Ms Haley in hopes of narrowing her odds against Donald Trump.

However, Democrats in the south-eastern state are telling residents that a vote for Ms Haley would be a mistake as she would be a more intimidating opponent against Mr Biden than Mr Trump.

‘Mother of MAGA’

In January, Democratic party leaders have been focusing their efforts on discouraging voters for Ms Haley, calling her the “mother of the MAGA movement”.

Colleen Condon, who is homosexual and the South Carolina Democrats’ first nonbinary vice chair, told party members at a dinner “I had to sue her to get married”. Adding “do not let your friend go vote in that primary. Please.”

In February 2023 at a town hall in New Hampshire, Ms Haley criticised Ron DeSantis’s infamous Don’t Say Gay measure that he introduced in Florida, saying it doesn’t go “far enough”.

“Basically, what it said was you shouldn’t be able to talk about gender before third grade [Year four]”, the Republican presidential hopeful said. “I’m sorry, I don’t think that goes far enough”.

Ms Haley went on to say that third grade, at which a child would be around eight or nine, was still too young to talk about gender.

While there is no indication that a significant number of Democrats are being swayed to vote for Ms Haley, those thinking of backing her feel they must at least consider it because of how uncooperative their own primary is, according to The New York Times.

Ms Haley is effectively the last candidate standing between Mr Trump and the nomination but she faces long odds in her home state.

Mr Trump currently holds a 26-point lead in South Carolina over Ms Haley, according to a Washington Post-Monmouth University poll.