AP declares Donald Trump winner of South Carolina GOP primary

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WMBF/AP) – Former President Donald Trump has been named the winner of the South Carolina GOP primary, according to the Associated Press.

It’s not clear at this point how many votes Trump received, but this means he will take all 50 of the delegates in South Carolina. Candidates need 1,215 delegates to win the nomination.

INTERACTIVE MAP | See the primary results county by county in South Carolina

ELECTION RESULTS | 2024 South Carolina Republican Primary

Trump has now swept every contest that counted for Republican delegates, with wins already in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The former president’s latest victory will likely increase pressure on Haley, who was Trump’s former representative to the U.N. and South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, to leave the race.

The Associated Press declared Trump the winner as polls closed statewide at 7 p.m. The AP based its race call on an analysis of AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of Republican South Carolina primary voters. The survey confirms the findings of pre-Election Day polls showing Trump far outpacing Haley statewide.

“I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,” Trump declared, taking the stage for his victory speech mere moments after polls closed. He added, “You can celebrate for about 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work.”

South Carolina’s first-in-the-South primary has historically been a reliable bellwether for Republicans. In all but one primary since 1980, the Republican winner in South Carolina has gone on to be the party’s nominee. The lone exception was Newt Gingrich in 2012.

Haley said in recent days that she would head straight to Michigan for its Tuesday primary, the last major contest before Super Tuesday. She faces questions about where she might be able to win a contest or be competitive.

Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador under Trump, has spent weeks crisscrossing the state that twice elected her governor warning that the dominant front-runner, who is 77 and faces four indictments, is too old and distracted to be president again.

Haley has repeatedly vowed to carry on if she loses her home state, even as Trump positions himself for a likely general election rematch against Biden.

You can watch more than 40 minutes of WMBF News coverage on Saturday’s primary below: