DFormer US President Donald Trump has won the primary election for the Republican presidential nomination in the state of South Carolina. The AP news agency and the broadcaster CNN reported this unanimously on Saturday evening (local time), citing their own forecasts. Trump's rival Nikki Haley, who was once governor of the conservative state in the southeast of the USA, suffered a defeat as expected.
Trump and Haley fought another duel in South Carolina for their party's nomination for the presidential election on November 5th. Anyone who wants to become a presidential candidate in the USA must first prevail in internal party primaries. The candidates are then officially chosen at party conferences in the summer. The Republican nomination convention will take place in mid-July.
Haley was hoping for home advantage
Haley, who is considered to be more politically moderate and rhetorically much more moderate than Trump, had hoped for a home advantage in South Carolina. The 52-year-old was born here and was the first woman to hold the state governorship from 2011 to 2017. South Carolina is roughly the size of Austria and has more than five million inhabitants. Around a quarter of the population is black. The South Carolina primary was the first vote in a southern US state.
Trump was already almost 30 percentage points ahead of Haley in polls in South Carolina. In national polls he leads by an even clearer margin. The former US ambassador to the United Nations Haley is given little chance of ultimately prevailing against Trump. Nevertheless, she has so far refused to admit defeat. Trump also won the previous primaries in the states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Haley wants to continue running against Trump
Trump supporters have long been urging Haley to drop out of the party's internal race. Before the vote in South Carolina, Haley made it clear once again that the race was far from over and that she did not want to give up. Now special attention is on March 5th, the so-called Super Tuesday. On this day, Republican primaries will be held simultaneously in 15 states.
Trump's victory in Haley's homeland once again underlines the Republican's support among the party base. Despite his legal problems, he has not lost any of his popularity among his supporters. There are four criminal proceedings against him, including because of his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump's candidacy for the Republicans is becoming more likely
The victory in South Carolina makes Trump's candidacy for the Republicans in the November presidential election more likely. As of now, everything points to another duel between him and incumbent President Biden.
In the internal party primaries, the number of delegate votes up for grabs varies depending on the party and state. How primaries are held varies from state to state. Democrats and Republicans each follow their own system. In South Carolina, party supporters decided on their favorite at polling stations on Saturday. In a few other states, voting takes place at small party meetings, so-called caucuses.