Former Palm State Governor Nikki Haley is far behind in the polls
On Saturday, February 24, the United States is preparing for the next Republican primary in South Carolina. As you know, there are two candidates left — Nikki Haley and Donald Trump. The Sabal Palm State vote is considered critical for candidates, especially Haley. This is her home region, but the percentage of support for this candidate is not very high. The American press claims that the result of the vote in South Carolina may affect Nikki Haley's future campaign. Possibly the final stop in the race.
The ex-South Carolina governor's return to her home state as a US presidential candidate doesn't seem to bode well for Nikki Haley.
Hailey finished third in the Republican primaries in Iowa, second in New Hampshire and, as he was dubbed by the American press, a “disgraceful” second place finish in the Nevada primary. Why shameful? Because the majority of voters chose the “none of these candidates” option. And Donald Trump was not on the ballot in Nevada.
There are no official party registrations in South Carolina, so registered voters can vote in primaries regardless of whether they identify as Republicans, Democrats or unaffiliated electors.
The only limitation is if the voter has already voted in a Democratic primary before this month, then, logically, he will not be able to vote in the Republican primaries.
In general, as The New York Times clarifies, there are seven candidates on the ballot. The two main ones are Nikki Haley and Donald Trump. Two little-known ones are Ryan Binkley and David Stukenberg. And even three former candidates who voluntarily withdrew from the race a little earlier — Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Three political issues will also be included on the ballot, but they will be taken into account only for the Republican Party's assessment general mood of voters.
According to The New York Times, South Carolina may become the last stronghold of Haley's election campaign. It's her home state, and voters there have elected her governor twice, so that would seem to put her in a close race with Trump. However, polls say otherwise.
Trump leads Haley 63% to 35%, according to a Suffolk University-USA Today poll released Tuesday.
The former president has a double-digit advantage among men and women in every age group, both among high school graduates and those with a college degree. Military families are also ready to elect the ex-president, even though Haley’s husband is himself a military man and is currently on a year-long assignment in Africa.
90% of those who have a positive view of Trump plan to give their votes for the former president. By comparison, 65% of those who have a positive view of Haley plan to vote for her.
But Haley does lead among those who identify as liberal or moderate (59% to Trump's 38%) and by a small margin among first-time GOP primary voters (51% to 49%).
However, it is globally clear that Haley is significantly behind her opponent. According to FiveThirtyEight on February 21, 63.5% of respondents are ready to vote for Trump on Saturday, and 33.5% are ready to vote for Nikki Haley.
However, the ex-governor of South Carolina is not giving up. She said she doesn't think she necessarily needs to win in South Carolina to remain viable. However, she acknowledged that she needs to do better than in New Hampshire and, by extension, in Iowa.
In her speech on Tuesday, Haley addressed Republicans who support Trump, accusing them of a “herd mentality”: “Many of the same politicians who now publicly support Trump are privately afraid of him. They know what a disaster he has been and will be for our party. They are just afraid to say it out loud.”
She said to herself: “I’m not afraid of Trump’s retaliation. I don't expect anything from him. We're going to keep moving forward. I'll get bruises. I will take all the blows on myself. It will be messy and I will embrace the pain because I believe that nothing good comes easy. Sometimes we have to feel pain to appreciate the blessing.”
If Haley tops the polls, that momentum could propel her into the 16 Super Tuesday races on March 5, where she will need to rack up many delegates to be competitive. If she doesn't, her path looks pretty bleak.
After South Carolina, Haley has events scheduled in Michigan, as well as the Super Tuesday race.
Hailey stressed that she is staying in race to give Republicans a choice other than Trump: “The people have a right to be heard, and they deserve real choice, not a style election where there is only one candidate and he gets 99% of the vote. We don't anoint kings in this country — we have elections. And Donald Trump, like no one else, should know that we are not rigging the elections.”