Presidential election in the United States: a decisive vote for Trump and Haley in the race for the Republican nomination

Nikki Haley, this week during a meeting. She refuses to throw in the towel. MAXPPP – Maxwell Vittorio

The Republican primary continues. This Saturday, it is the inhabitants of South Carolina who are called to choose between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley to challenge Joe Biden next November. We explain to you why this one is a little more important than the others. 

After Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the Virgin Islands, the Republican primary to nominate their candidate for the presidential election begins its 5th stage this Saturday in South Carolina. A vote which could already be decisive.

During the first votes, former President Donald Trump has already won 63 of the 90 delegates at stake, thanks to scores each time higher than 50%… Including when all his opponents were still in the race. This pushed the majority of them to withdraw from the race, notably Ron Santis who was seen as an outsider and Vivek Ramaswamy. Both left only Nikki Haley to remain in the running against Donald Trump.

Former close to Trump

Aged 52, originally from India, former protégé of Trump who appointed her ambassador of the United States to the UN, seduced by her career which had made her brought to the ultra-conservative Tea Party, Nikky Haley has since distanced himself from the billionaire, particularly since the attack on the Capitol. She entered the race for the Republican nomination last year and is even ahead of Joe Biden in the polls in the event of a duel against the outgoing president. But among the Republicans, his candidacy is not taking off against the unsinkable Donald Trump. His best score remains 43%, during the vote in New Hampshire.

However, this new election in South Carolina is taking place… at home. She was in fact governor of this state from 2011 to 2017 and led an intense campaign, from city to city, for this primary. Advantage for her, unlike other states, the vote is not closed only to Republican activists, she therefore sought to seduce this non-party electorate. 

She refuses to throw in the towel

Yet the polls invariably put Donald Trump in the lead. "And if he is able to beat the former governor in his home state, that would probably make him an almost guaranteed candidate to win. the inauguration of the Republican Party", analyzes David Darmofal, political scientist at the University of South Carolina. 

However, during a meeting this week, Nikki Haley ruled out the idea of ​​abandoning the race even in the event of a defeat at home,&nbsp ; believing that this "would be an easy way out. Whatever the outcome in South Carolina, she therefore plans to remain in contention on Tuesday in Michigan, then on March 2 in Idaho, Missouri and North Dakota. And so last until "Super Tuesday" of March 5, the day when fifteen states, including Texas and California, are called to the polls. In Donald Trump's team, we hope to fold the game in early March. The former American president may be more concerned about the legal deadlines that still await him than the primary votes.