(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Trump triumphs over former SC Gov. Nikki Haley in SC GOP primary [1]
['Abraham Kenmore', 'Jessica Holdman', 'More From Author', '- February']
Date: 2024-02-24
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Former President Donald Trump won an expected blowout victory over former S.C. governor Nikki Haley Saturday in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary.
The Associated Press called the race at 7 p.m. with zero percent of the precincts reporting.
With 17% of the ballots counted, Trump had 55.9% of the votes to Haley’s 43.6%.
“This is a little sooner than we anticipated and “an even bigger win than we anticipated,” Trump said as he took the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” He told supporters who had been gathering at the fairgrounds in Columbia all day, “You can celebrate for about 15 minutes and then we have to get back to work.”
Trump was joined on stage by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham. Graham, who spoke briefly, was booed by the crowd while a Trump mention of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as “a very noncontroversial person” brought cheers and chants of “Gaetz, Gaetz, Gaetz.”
Trump was on stage for about 30 minutes and stuck to his usual talking points — the situation on the border is “the worst it’s ever been” and the country “is a failing nation.” He predicted that Michigan autoworkers would support him in that state’s primary on Tuesday.
He added “Nov. 5 – it’s going to be the most important date, perhaps, in the history of our country” before thanking his supporters and telling them to go home and get some rest because “we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain issued a statement on the results, saying: “The stage for November has been set and the choices South Carolinians will have at the voting booth are becoming clear. Voters have seen what’s at stake: Donald Trump is running to ban abortion nationwide, end the Affordable Care Act, and gut Social Security and Medicare — all while pulling apart the fabric of our democracy.
“Three weeks ago, a diverse coalition of Black voters, rural voters, Medicare recipients, college students, teachers, service members and veterans overwhelmingly showed up to support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and they’re ready to do it at the ballot box once again so they can continue delivering record accomplishments for South Carolina.”
About 131,000 voters cast ballots in the state’s Democratic primary earlier this month. Because voters in South Carolina do not register by party, any registered voter in the state who did not vote in the Democratic primary was eligible to cast a ballot in the GOP primary.
S.C. GOP Party Chairman Drew McKissick said earlier Saturday that he did not expect many Democrats to cross over and vote for Haley. “Self identified Democratic participation in our presidential primary has been going down over time, and that’s largely because most of those folks were conservative Democrats who now have joined the Republican party,” he said.
McKissick added that he expected the state would set voting records on Saturday. According to the S.C. Election Commission, 205,099 people voted early in the primary and 12,018 people had cast absentee ballots ahead of Saturday.
‘She’ll have her time’
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