Former President Trump wins South Carolina. Here’s how the victory affects other races

Joseph Bustos
·2 min read
Donald Trump speaks to a crowd gathered at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Trump was declared the winner of the South Carolina primary.

South Carolina will cast nine electoral votes for former President Donald Trump, according to a call by the Associated Press.

The AP called the race in South Carolina for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris at 8:01 p.m. Tuesday as results of the election began coming in.

Trump has been popular in the Palmetto State and also carried the state in 2016 and 2020, as well the GOP presidential primaries in 2016 and 2024.

Trump won South Carolina in the general election in 2020 by 12 points. He carried the state in 2016 by 14 points.

Going into Tuesday’s election, Trump led in the handful of polls of Palmetto State voters.

A Winthrop University poll in September had Trump leading by 10 percentage points.

The Citadel Poll, conducted between Oct. 17 and Oct. 25, had Trump leading by 12 points

Eastern Carolina University, in a poll conducted from Oct. 18-22, had a 13-point lead for Trump.

A Claflin University poll, in a poll conducted from Oct. 5-10, had Trump leading by 7 points.

Because of the influence by the top of the ticket and straight party ticket voting, the margin of Trump’s victory is key on influencing down ballot races.

Republicans are expected to keep control of the General Assembly, but the state had a handful of competitive Legislative races this year.

Going into Tuesday’s elections, Republicans held 88 seats in the House and 30 in the Senate.

A smaller margin for Trump could be beneficial for Democrats in the state who hoped to gain seats in the House and defend seats in the Senate as only a handful of seats were truly competitive in this year’s elections.

In 2022, Republicans flipped several House seats that were expected to be held by Democratic lawmakers because of the size of their Black populations, including three within Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s district.

Latest Stories

  • Syrian rebel leader’s victory speech holds a message for Iran – and for Trump and Israel too

    Abu Mohammad al-Jolani’s road to Damascus has been long. He has talked openly about his change along the way. From young al Qaeda fighter two decades ago, to rebel commander espousing sectarian tolerance.

  • Trump Sends Warning Shot to Putin as He Hails That ‘Assad is Gone’

    With the regime of his Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in Damascus, Russian leader Vladimir Putin received a public warning from President-elect Donald Trump, who urged him to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine before the conflict there becomes “far worse.” “Assad is gone,” Trump wrote, in an early Sunday morning post on Truth Social. “He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for

  • Adam Kinzinger Has Defiant 3-Word Response To Donald Trump’s Jail Threat

    The former Republican congressman issued a brutal summary of the president-elect’s comments about the House Jan. 6 committee.

  • Sarcasm Levels Skyrocket Over Alina Habba’s New Trump White House Gig

    Donald Trump’s announcement sparked an outpouring of snark.

  • Trump calls for 'immediate ceasefire' in Ukraine after meeting Zelenskyy in Paris

    KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, shortly after a meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming Kyiv “would like to make a deal” to end the more than 1,000-day war.

  • Fact check: Trump, repeating old lies on ‘Meet the Press,’ falsely claims US is the only country with birthright citizenship

    President-elect Donald Trump repeated numerous false claims during an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” – including his old lie that the US is the world’s only country with birthright citizenship.

  • Mitch McConnell Gets Standing Ovation After Taking a Subtle Swipe at Trump

    Senator Mitch McConnell took a subtle jab at President-elect Donald Trump during a speech on Saturday night. Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Kentucky senator claimed that current “influential voices” were forgetting the threat of China and Russia and neglecting the history of the Cold War. “Within the party Ronald Reagan once led so capably, it is increasingly fashionable to suggest that the sort of global leadership he modeled

  • Liz Cheney Claps Back at Trump’s Jail Threat

    Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney has clapped back at President-elect Donald Trump after he threatened to imprison her and other members on the congressional committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. In an interview on NBC’s Meet The Press that aired Sunday morning, Trump claimed that Cheney, along with a “committee of political thugs” deleted all the evidence from their investigation. “Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-selec

  • RBG's granddaughter wants to ask Musk why he needed lies to help Trump | Opinion

    You can count on Elon Musk misleading you, and using proxies to hide his actions. Only a fool would trust anything he says now.

  • Lara Trump Ditches RNC as Bigger Political Future Beckons

    Lara Trump, the wife of Donald Trump’s third child, Eric, announced her resignation as co-chair of the Republican National Committee Sunday night—prompting a new round of speculation over her political future. The 42-year-old posted on X Sunday night that “serving as the @GOP co-chair throughout the course of the most consequential election in American history has truly been the honor of my life.” The news was initially reported by the Associated Press, which noted the former television producer

  • The fall of Bashar Assad after 14 years of war in Syria brings to an end a decades-long dynasty

    BEIRUT (AP) — The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government Sunday brought to a dramatic close his nearly 14-year struggle to hold onto power as his country fragmented amid a brutal civil war that became a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers.

  • CNN Panelist Calls BS on Defense of Kash Patel’s Praise for QAnon

    A former Republican strategist offered an on-air defense of President-elect Donald Trump’s FBI chief nominee amid criticism over his praise of far-right conspiracy theories—but his fellow panelists were having none of it. On Thursday night, CNN Newsnight host Abby Phillip played a sequence of clips in which Kash Patel was heard praising adherents to the QAnon conspiracy theory and the central figure behind it. QAnon posits the existence of a satanic, pedophilic cabal pulling the strings of power

  • US Military Alarmed by Russian Nuclear Weapon Platform in Orbit

    A Russian spacecraft launched higher than most satellites has long had the Pentagon worried — and new revelations about what it contains onboard have made those concerns all the greater. Launched in early 2022, Russia's Cosmos 2553 spacecraft is nominally built to test out "newly developed onboard instruments and systems." According to new reporting from the New York Times, however, the mysterious satellite system contains a "dummy warhead"

  • Jon Stewart slams media speculation of Trump presidency

    “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart criticized the media’s coverage of President-elect Trump’s incoming presidency, questioning whether some speculation is doing more harm than good. “We don’t know what’s going to happen when Donald Trump takes over. Unfortunately, we can’t see into the future, but we have to be prepared for all outcomes. I don’t…

  • Department in charge of Old Age Security doesn't know if payments are enough, auditor finds

    A report from Canada's auditor general says the federal department that delivers Old Age Security (OAS) and other programs to assist seniors "did not have a comprehensive view" of the needs of Canada's elderly and doesn't know if the monthly payments are providing seniors with enough financial support. The report found Employment and Social Development Canada is collecting data on seniors, but hasn't actually been analyzing it, and can't say whether the government programs in place are addressin

  • Trump Awkwardly Arm Wrestles With French President Macron in Paris

    President-elect Donald Trump seemed to white-knuckle French President Emmanuel Macron as they shook hands in Paris on Saturday, ahead of the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral. The visit was Trump’s first trip abroad since winning the 2024 presidential election, and the diplomatic reunion also included an impromptu trilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This was Zelensky’s first in-person conversation with the U.S. president-elect since Trump’s victory in November. Trump

  • CSIS says it will disclose 'some information' about foreign interference to Pierre Poilievre

    Canada's spy agency says it will disclose "some information" about foreign interference to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has resisted getting the national security clearance he needs to review classified documents about the issue because it would muzzle him.The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) told CBC News on Saturday that it's determined "the disclosure of some information to the leader of the Official Opposition through a threat reduction measure is appropriate."Class

  • Syrian government falls in stunning end to 50-year rule of Assad family

    BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days.

  • Campaign finance records show Harris' $1 million payment to Oprah's production company

    Oprah has denied that she received a personal payment for her support of the former Democratic presidential nominee.

  • The Trump Economy Begins: 4 Money Moves Boomers Should Make Before Inauguration Day

    Economic shifts are on the horizon, affecting taxes, healthcare and housing as the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump approaches. Learn More: 3 Things Retirees Should Sell To Build...