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Former President Donald Trump has a lead in the Republican presidential primary, but the process is far from over. The next step is South Carolina’s primary, which takes place on Saturday, February 24. Here’s what to know:
The major candidates include Trump, the current front-runner to get the Republican nomination for the third straight presidential election. His top rival is former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who also served as US ambassador to the United Nations for part of Trump’s term as president.
South Carolina’s primaries are open, which means any registered voter can take part in either the Republican primary or the Democratic primary, but not both. The Democratic primary took place earlier in February. President Joe Biden won easily.
Even though Haley was the state’s governor, Trump has been the clear leader in pre-primary polling. He gets the support of more than 60% of GOP primary voters in several recent polls – far outpacing Haley, who has hovered around 30%.
Trump has held rallies in the state, but much of his campaigning has been done from courtrooms in New York, Washington, DC, and Florida, where he faces a series of criminal prosecutions. He was also ordered to pay $355 million in a civil fraud case last week.
Rather than hurt him, his legal problems seem to have galvanized Republicans around his campaign. He has also used media attention at courts to dominate campaign coverage.
Haley, meanwhile, could suffer an embarrassing loss if she can’t win the state where she was governor.
It seems likely, although she scored an incredible, come-from-behind primary win when she first ran for…
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