Nikki Haley eyes Michigan Primary after losing South Carolina. Here's all you need to know

Nikki Haley faces an uphill battle in the Republican primary after losing South Carolina to Donald Trump. Still she vows to stay, eagle eyes Michigan.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley suffered a major blow to her presidential ambitions on Saturday night, when she lost her home state of South Carolina to former President Donald Trump in the Republican primary.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks on stage at her watch party during the South Carolina Republican presidential primary election in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. February 24, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (REUTERS)

Despite vowing to stay in the race, Haley faces an uphill battle to stop Trump from securing the nomination and challenging President Joe Biden in the general election.

Haley vows to stay, not bowing out

Haley was the last remaining major candidate to oppose Trump, after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out in January. She had hoped to appeal to moderate and independent voters who were disillusioned with Trump’s divisive rhetoric and policies, as well as his legal troubles stemming from the January 6 Capitol riot and other investigations.

Haley, for her part, has not given any indication that she will bow out of the race anytime soon. In an email to her supporters, with the subject line “The fight goes on”, she said she was proud of her campaign and thanked her volunteers and donors. She also said she was not deterred by the results in South Carolina, and that she would continue to offer a “positive and hopeful” vision for the country.

She performed well in New Hampshire, where she won 17 delegates, but failed to gain momentum in the subsequent contests. South Carolina, where she served as governor from 2011 to 2017, was supposed to be her stronghold, but she only managed to get 32% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 58%.

South Carolina’s Republican delegates are not bound to a specific candidate after the primary, which means Haley could still try to persuade some of them to switch sides. However, this is unlikely to make a significant difference, as Trump has a commanding lead in the delegate count, with 293 to Haley’s 49.

Next is Michigan

The next big test for Haley will be Super Tuesday, on March 5, when 16 states and territories will hold their primaries and caucuses, awarding 874 delegates, or more than a third of the total. Haley will need to win a large share of these delegates to remain viable, but most polls show her trailing far behind Trump in most states.

Trump’s campaign has already expressed confidence that Haley will fail on Super Tuesday, and that he will cross the majority threshold of 1,276 delegates by March 12. In a memo to reporters, Trump’s campaign said Haley would be “broken down, out of ideas, out of gas, and completely outperformed by every measure, by Donald Trump”.

What did she say after the results came in?

“I'm a woman of my word,” she said in Charleston, South Carolina, reminding of her earlier commitment to stay in the race until Super Tuesday.

“I'm not giving up this fight.” She added, “Today is not the end of our story.”
The ex-governor and UN ambassador praised Trump for his win.

“I love the people of our state, regardless of the outcome,” she said to her fans in Charleston.

But Haley said she thinks Trump can’t defeat Biden in the general election.

“Our country is in trouble. But here’s the thing: America will fall apart if we choose wrong. This was never about me or my career. We have to beat Joe Biden in November,” she said.

“I think Donald Trump can’t beat Joe Biden.”

In her speech to her supporters on Saturday night, Haley also tried to put a positive spin on her defeat, saying that 40% of the GOP electorate in South Carolina was “not some tiny group”, and that she had a broad and diverse coalition of supporters.