If you’re wondering if Republican voters who voted for Nikki Haley in the South Carolina primary are going to support Donald Trump in the general election, then worry no more.
Nikki Haley got virtually no Republican support in the South Carolina primary, but got the majority of her votes from self-described Independents, moderates, and Democrats.
Kelli Poindexter, a Democrat voter, told Forsige Breaking News that she voted in the Republican primary with the aim of cancelling out a Trump voter.
“I voted for Nikki Haing simply to maybe cancel out one of the Donald Trump votes, and that is because this is heavy Donald Trump support in our state,” Poindexter said. “I don’t understand it.”
Other voters contacted by Forsige Breaking News about their selections had a much different tune.
“Well, I voted for Trump because I trust him more than I do Haley,” an unidentified voter said.
“I voted for Donald Trump,” said Republican voter Mary Ring. “I think he’s the only one that’s capable of being in the White House.”
South Carolina has an open primary system.
That means Democratic Party voters (and Independent voters) can cross party lines and vote against Donald Trump in the Republican primaries.
That’s exactly what they did, just like Democratic and Independent voters did even in hybrid primaries like in New Hampshire.
NBC News reported on the exit polls, which showed exactly what you would expect.
“Trump overwhelmingly won the support of men and women (68% and 62%, respectively), voters under 45 and those over 45 (64% and 65%), voters with and without college degrees (51% and 75%), and self-identified Republicans (73%),” NBC News noted.
“Trump also continued his primary season streak of garnering majority support across traditional Republican voting blocs: 86% of very conservative voters, 75% of white evangelicals, 68% of veterans and 89% of the almost half of voters who say they are part of the MAGA movement,” the media outlet continued.
“Haley’s support today came from independents, where she beat Trump 54% to 43%, and moderates, where she beat Trump 67% to 32%,” NBC News added.
In addition, Haley obviously got support from Democrats looking to play spoiler, as illustrated by the woman mentioned above.
