Donald Trump has won the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, CNN projects, defeating Nikki Haley on her home turf as he completed his sweep of the early voting states.
Already the prohibitive favorite to claim his third straight nomination, the former president’s victory in the Palmetto State, where Haley was twice elected governor, has all but ended the race — even as Haley insists that she will keep battling at least into next month.
Trump’s dominance in South Carolina was hardly surprising. The state is among the most conservative in the country and has backed the former president every time he’s been on the ballot. According to a CNN exit poll of primary voters, more than 4 in 10 described themselves as being affiliated with the MAGA movement, while roughly 8 in 10 described themselves as conservative. Only a third of respondents acknowledged President Joe Biden as the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
Biden and Trump both pivoted to the general election campaign weeks ago, but Haley’s decision to play out the race has been gnawing at the former president, who is positioning himself to close his grip on the GOP political apparatus.
While the result in South Carolina was never really in doubt — most polls showed Trump with a 25- to 30-point lead — there are still a few outstanding details. Chief among them: How many delegates can Haley win? South Carolina gives most of its plunder to the statewide winner but also doles out delegates to the winner in each of its seven congressional districts.
CNN projected late Saturday night that Haley will win the state’s 1st Congressional District and its three delegates.
District wins for Haley won’t change the trajectory of the race but could tell us something about Trump’s road ahead.
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