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South Carolina Republican voters made their voice heard loud and clear on Saturday, choosing President Donald Trump to lead their party’s presidential ticket in the biggest landslide in the history of the state’s primaries.
Trump received more votes for the party’s primary than any other non-sitting president in the more than forty years since South Carolina’s GOP primaries were first established.
Among Republicans, a non-incumbent has never cracked 55 percent of the vote since Ronald Reagan in South Carolina, who has seemingly held onto this record since the state’s inception into the primaries in 1980.
The closest any candidate came to this margin was George W. Bush in 2000, who carried the state with 53 percent over the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Trump, however, blew this record out of the water on Saturday, carrying 59.8 percent in South Carolina. His only primary opponent, South Carolina’s own former Gov. Nikki Haley, embarrassingly lost by more than 30 points as of Sunday.
Trump also nearly doubled his vote percentages from 2016, where he previously received almost 33 percent, and earned more votes than any single primary contender from either major political party in South Carolina.
Multiple outlets projected the president the winner just seconds after polls closed in the Palmetto State, marking his fifth win for the 2024 Republican primaries.
Trump is expected to win at least 44 of South Carolina’s 50 delegates, while the remaining six have yet to be awarded to either candidate, per the Associated Press.
Impressively, Trump was able to win the state by this decisive margin despite Haley’s campaign reportedly pouring nearly $10 million in South Carolina—about nine times as much as the president, according to a report from The Atlantic.
South Carolina has served somewhat as a bellwether state for Republicans, as every candidate who won its primary, with the exception of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 2012, ultimately won the presidential nomination.
Trump is becoming increasingly more likely to uphold this precedent and soar to the nomination, as he has handily swept each of the primary contests by double-digit margins.
Haley has refused to bow out of the presidential race despite her historic losses, and will continue campaigning ahead of the upcoming primary in Michigan.
“I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president,” Haley told supporters shortly after losing the state on Saturday. “I’m a woman of my word.”
The Michigan GOP primary will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
