US Election Result: Trump wins South Carolina, say CNN & AP

Republican candidate former President Donald Trump has won the state of South Carolina, according to CNN and AP.

Trump has won South Carolina’s nine electoral college votes in the race to reach the 270-mark.

Trump won South Carolina in 2020 election as well.

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South Carolina is significant in US presidential elections because of its unique demographic composition and historically conservative voting record. South Carolina’s African American community has played a pivotal role in Democratic primaries, especially due to its early place in the primary election cycle. African American voters helped President Joe Biden secure the nomination after winning South Carolina by a sizeable margin in the 2020 Democratic primary.

Voter demographics

Former president Donald Trump had been widely favored to win the Southern state, despite his litany of criminal charges and Haley’s status as a native of South Carolina who won two terms as governor. The state has a diverse electorate with 5.2 million population consisting mainly of white (68%). African Americans are about 27 percent of the state’s population, and historically, they have been a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party.

Voting history: Democrat or Republican?

South Carolina shifted from a Democratic stronghold in the 19th and early 20th centuries to becoming a Republican state by the late 20th century. From Reconstruction through the 1960s, South Carolina, like much of the South, was dominated by the Democratic Party. However, following the Civil Rights Movement and changes in national party platforms, South Carolina gradually shifted toward the Republican Party.

Since 1964, South Carolina has voted Republican in every presidential election except for 1976, when Jimmy Carter, a Southern Democrat, won the state. In recent elections, South Carolina has been solidly Republican. In the 2020 election, Donald Trump carried the state with 55.1% of the vote, compared to Joe Biden’s 43.4%. South Carolina’s rural and suburban areas strongly favour the GOP, while urban centres like Columbia and Charleston lean more Democratic.

South Carolina was the only East Coast state in 2020 to vote Republican by a double-digit margin. This was the first time that both main-party candidates won more than one million votes in a statewide election in South Carolina, alongside the concurrent Senate election.

Swing state status and electoral importance

South Carolina is not considered a swing state in presidential elections. Its reliable Republican leanings make it a safe bet for GOP candidates, and it has consistently delivered electoral votes to Republican nominees. The state’s nine electoral votes are crucial to the Republican Party’s overall strategy in the South, even though South Carolina does not receive the same attention as larger battleground states.

Presidential connections

South Carolina has been home to influential political figures and one of the most notable is John C. Calhoun, who served as vice president under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Calhoun was a staunch defender of slavery, which decided the states’s political culture.

More recently, South Carolina has produced national political figures such as Nikki Haley, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Trump and was the state’s first female governor. Although South Carolina has yet to send a president to the White House, figures like Haley have elevated its political influence on the national stage.

Memorable elections

Barack Obama’s decisive victory over Hillary Clinton in one of the most memorable elections in South Carolina’s history in the 2008 Democratic primary demonstrated his appeal among African American voters and gave him momentum heading into Super Tuesday. This primary was notable because it cemented South Carolina’s importance in the Democratic primary calendar and highlighted the state’s African American electorate as a critical factor in the outcome.

South Carolina has not produced a U.S. president, but it continues to influence national politics through its prominent political figures and its role in shaping the course of presidential primaries.