Former President Donald Trump won the South Carolina Republican primary this Saturday.
His victory is a hard blow for his opponent and former ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who hoped to surprise in her home state, of which she was also governor (2011-2017).
The polls opened at 7:00 am and closed at 7:00 pm and a total of 50 electoral delegates were at stake.
The state winner takes all the at-large delegates, while the winner of each district gets three delegates.
With his victory this Saturday, Trump now reaches 113 delegates, of the 1,215 necessary to win the Republican nomination.
Hailey's defeat in her home state leaves her badly hurt in the Republican presidential race, although this Saturday morning she said she would not withdraw as long as there are people who are in her favor.
"I'm going to keep fighting, I'm not going anywhere."
South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick said Haley's political career would be hurt if she decided to continue her presidential bid if she suffered a double-digit loss to President Trump, the network earlier reported. NBC News.
“I think there's a lot of soul-searching to be done at this point, there's no doubt about it,” McKissick said.
The election was open to all registered voters.
But those who voted in the Democratic presidential primaries on February 3 could not participate in these Republican primaries.
However, some Democratic voters were present at the polls to vote against Trump.
At least two Democratic voters in Columbia told NBC News on Saturday that they voted for Haley in the Republican primary, in part to stop Trump.
“It's important to me to keep Trump out of office again,” Kelly Poindexter said, adding, “Any Democrat should be here.”
Among Republican primary voters in South Carolina, there is little concern about Trump's health, according to exit polls.
37% of voters said the 77-year-old former president has the mental and physical health necessary to serve effectively as president.
While 26% said that Haley, 52, was healthy, and another 36% said that both candidates had the health required to govern.
About 9 in 10 voters in the state (92%) said they had decided who to elect today before last week.
Only 7% claimed to have changed their mind in recent days.