South Carolina - US Presidential Primary – Winners and Losers

2/21/2016 articles

S.C. Primary Results
Donald Trump, 32.5%, 238,173 votes, 44 delegates
Sen. Marco Rubio, 22.5%, 164,770 votes
Sen. Ted Cruz, 22.3%, 163,818 votes
Former Gov. Jeb Bush, 7.8%, 57,496 votes
Gov. John Kasich, 7.6%, 55,942 votes
Dr. Ben Carson, 7.2%, 53,005
Zero delegates for candidates other than Trump

How did voters select their candidate?

Trump won among voters who wanted “straight talk”, “don’t sugar- coat the facts, tell it like it is.” From far right conservatives to strict evangelicals Trump got votes because these people want change and they want it now. He promised to combat terrorism, attack ISIS and win. Trump envisioned a financial revival that will strengthen the economy. He would bring jobs back to America and would end illegal immigration.

Sen. Marco Rubio, the establishment candidate, claimed he could beat Hillary Clinton. S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, Rep. Trey Goudy (S.C.) and Sen. Tim Scott endorsed Rubio and stumped for him throughout South Carolina. He edged out Cruz for 2nd place.

Sen. Ted Cruz is a strong, no nonsense conservative. He invited all true GOP conservatives to align with him in his campaign to defeat Trump and the Democrat presidential candidate. He stumped hard to attract evangelicals to vote for him. Trump received a fair share of evangelical votes.

The final vote in S.C. concurs with the polls in South Carolina. All polls reflected Trump’s eventual win except for the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll which showed Sen. Ted Cruz ahead by 2 points. Pundits are calling this poll an ‘outlier’.

Delegates are selected in S.C. based on the number of counties won by the candidates. Trump won all of the counties except for two, Columbia, S.C. and Charleston, SC. giving him 44 delegates from S.C. The media spin: Sen. Rubio was the real winner since he came in second place ahead of Sen. Cruz. Donald Trump took first place.

Jeb Bush Dropped Out of the 2016 Race. Whose Fault Was it?

On Saturday evening, February 20, Bush dropped out of the 2016 presidential race. He came into the race with a war chest of $150 million including the super PAC money. Whose fault was it? Some are blaming Trump, others Rubio and Cruz.

Millions of dollars were spent on TV ads attacking Trump and Rubio. The voters didn’t respond positively to the ads. The money would have benefited Bush more if he had focused on issues and solutions to problems that voters were angry or worried about. This included immigration, terror, and loss of jobs.

What Does the Future Hold?

Nevada caucus is on Feb. 23rd. Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses begin on March 1st with 11 states. These continue through March 8th and 15th. If candidates continue to drop out of the race it could be Trump, Rubio, and Cruz fighting it out for the nomination. If there is no prominent front-runner the Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio could become a brokered convention. Time, votes, and delegates will tell.