Underdog and former Gov. Nikki Haley is seeking to best former President Donald Trump in a Saturday Republican primary showdown that has gotten increasingly combative in recent days.
- Polls are open until 7 p.m. Saturday.
Last week, Trump held a 2-1 lead in two state polls, but more recent polling showed Haley closing the gap.
In a campaign whistle stop on Feb. 17 at Freshfields Village near her Kiawah Island home, Haley took repeated swipes at Trump.
“There were 14 candidates and we’ve defeated 12 of the fellows — and I’ve just got one more fellow left to defeat,” Haley said during the stop. She then criticized Trump for focusing in recent days on just about everything other than issues that Americans care about. For example, she said he’s talked about his massive fines from court cases in which he is involved, her husband’s military deployment and even what she wore one night.
“At no point did he talk about the American people — about the 31% of eighth graders who aren’t proficient in reading; about the $34 trillion national debt; about our open borders” and the international conflicts going on around the world. “All he did is talk about himself. We’ve got to get beyond these candidates who focus only on themselves, not the American people.”
Later, she added, “It is time we finally put the past behind us and elect a new conservative generational leader.”
Also during the weekend, Haley encouraged the 3 million South Carolina registered voters who didn’t cast ballots in the Feb. 3 Democratic presidential primary to vote in the Republican one. Groups across the state also have been pushing for Democrats and independents to vote against the former president in the Republican primary.
“If you can use your vote, you should try to damage the [former] president,” Robert Schwartz, co-founder of the left-leaning PrimaryPivot, said in media reports. “Keep Nikki Haley in this race so that she can continue to draw distinctions with him and so that he can continue to spend down resources. Our goal is not to help Nikki Haley win. It’s to help Nikki Haley survive.”
Last week, a Winthrop Poll showed Trump with a 2-1 margin over Haley. With 65% of likely voters saying they’ll back Trump, he had a 36% lead over Haley, according to the poll of more than 1,700 voters. But among likely independent voters, the split is almost even, with 42.6% supporting Trump and 42.3% backing Haley. Trump maintained a stronghold among Republican voters with 72%.
But one man, a lawyer from Seabrook Island, said Saturday that he voted for Trump twice over the years, but no longer could. “He’s lost his mind,” the man said.
On Feb. 16, a Citadel Poll of 1,000 registered voters showed similar results among 505 likely Republican primary voters with 64% saying they preferred Trump and 31% for Haley. But by early this week, Haley was closing the gap, garnering 35% to Trump’s 58% to an Emerson College Polling/The Hill pool.
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24.
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