Will Nikki Haley be able to shake Donald Trump's influence in the state where she was governor? South Carolina Republicans are holding their primary on Saturday to decide between the two candidates for the White House.
• Also read: Republican Party nomination: Democrats would rather face Donald Trump than Nikki Haley
Early on, as the polls opened at 7 a.m., voters of all ages streamed in a steady stream to the polls in Charleston.
The day before, the two candidates had withdrawn their troops from this southeastern state. He hoped to destroy his former UN ambassador, she dreamed of opposing the elections.
“We need your vote to save America,” the former president said.
“Everyone needs to go and vote,” Nikki Haley said. “Make sure you tell your neighbors and family. Drag them to the polls as best you can!”
Despite his legal troubles, 77-year-old Donald Trump is the overwhelming favorite in the race for the Republican nomination, which must nominate the party's candidate for the November presidential election.
The ex-entrepreneur has already won his party's first primaries, leaving much of the competition behind.
Nikki Haley, 52, is the only one standing in her way.
The plea from this woman, the only Republican in the race, is simple: “We will not survive four more years of Trump chaos.”
AFP
She says she wants to restore some “normalcy” and urges them to choose “a new generation of conservative leaders” instead.
After Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, their duel moves to South Carolina, a state where Nikki Haley was governor for six years.
Can her bet be a winner when opinion polls show her trailing Donald Trump by almost 30 points? Verdict on Saturday evening.
Jeff and Susan Stottler, husband and wife, laughingly explain that they didn't vote for the same candidate, a recurring subject of “jokes” in their household.
He chose Donald Trump. “I am confident that Donald Trump will undo everything that Joe Biden has done to plunge us into the economic and migration crisis we are in,” said the 61-year-old banker.
AFP
His wife, 60, has ticked the Haley box even though she believes her rival will win.
“I’m ready for a woman (president) and a different perspective,” she said. “By voting for her, I hope he chooses her as his running mate.”
In the last few days, tens of thousands of voters have already made their decision thanks to the primary election.
The first results will be available from 7:00 p.m.
The challenges of this primary are clear
“If Trump manages to beat former Gov. Nikki Haley in his home state, he would likely be a nearly guaranteed candidate for the Republican Party nomination,” said David Darmofal, a political scientist at the University of Carolina South.
However, Nikki Haley rejected the idea of throwing in the towel right after the primary, saying that “would be the easy way out.”
After Saturday, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are expected to compete against each other on Tuesday in Michigan.
Republicans from Idaho, Missouri and North Dakota will then take turns voting, a well-orchestrated ballet that will lead the candidates to one of the biggest political events of the year, Super Tuesday.
On March 5, around fifteen states, including Texas, California, Colorado and Virginia, will hold their elections simultaneously in a major election day watched by the entire world.
The primaries could theoretically last until July. But Donald Trump’s team is predicting a victory by “March 19th” at the latest.
The former president wants to get into his rematch with Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate for re-election, as quickly as possible before being dragged into his repeated legal troubles.
Getty Images via AFP