Trump wins GOP primary in Haley’s ‘territory’

FILE: Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

WASHINGTON – Former president Donald Trump scored another victory in the Republican Party’s presidential nomination contest in South Carolina on Saturday, CNN and the Associated Press projected, reaffirming his overwhelming lead against former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

His much-anticipated victory in the state, where Haley served as governor, underscored that he is well on his way toward clinching the party’s nomination for the third consecutive time to face presumptive Democratic Party standard-bearer President Joe Biden in November.

Having amassed wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, the Virgin Islands and then the Palmetto State, Trump further cemented his commanding lead despite being dogged by four separate legal cases and controversies over stump speeches.

Shrugging off growing questions over her long-shot campaign, Haley has vowed to remain in the race through Super Tuesday on March 5 – the most crucial primary day, when 15 states and one territory vote with 874 delegates, more than a third of the total 2,429 GOP delegates, at stake on a single day.

Up for grabs in South Carolina were 50 delegates, with 29 of them to be given to the winner in the statewide contest.

To clinch the Republican nomination, a candidate must reach the magic number of 1,215 — a majority of the total Republican delegates.

The next GOP primary is slated to take place in Michigan on Tuesday.

The Republican and Democratic parties will officially announce their ultimate standard-bearers at their conventions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July and in Chicago, Illinois, in August, respectively. (Yonhap)