Trump Wins South Carolina Republican Primary

Yahoo News reports:

Donald Trump cruised to a victory Saturday in South Carolina’s Republican primary, beating rival Nikki Haley in her home state and continuing his march to the nomination and a White House rematch with Joe Biden in November.

By about 7 am (1200 GMT) Sunday, major national news outlets had Trump just shy of 60 percent of the vote, with almost all votes counted. Networks had felt able to call the race for Trump within seconds of the polls closing, suggesting little doubt over the outcome.

Trump had already won Iowa by 30 points and New Hampshire by 10, while a dispute in Nevada led to the real estate tycoon running unopposed in the first official contest in the western United States.

Talking Points Memo reports:

In a presidential election or even a contested senate race 60-40 is pretty decisive. It’s plenty to make Trump the nominee. But I think we have to be honest and say that 40% of the electorate in a deeply Trumpy state like South Carolina voting against Trump is a huge showing of opposition precisely because the nomination race is effectively over.

It’s fair to say that this is Haley’s home state. She was two-term governor. That must figure into the equation. But 40% isn’t that different from the 43.2% she got in New Hampshire or the 40.3% Haley and Ron DeSantis got between them in Iowa.

Trump ends tonight in SC with yet another double-digit win, but Nikki Haley still has ~40% of the vote.

That means ~40% of those who care enough to vote in the primary want another option, pointing to a very real general election vulnerability for Trump. https://t.co/bvLq5RvqVu

— POLITICO (@politico) February 25, 2024