Groups push for Democrats, independents to vote against Trump in SC GOP primary. Here’s why

If former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is going to win, or at least beat expectations against former President Donald Trump in the Feb. 24 First in the South presidential primary, she’ll need independents to show up and possibly Democratic voters to cross over.

And with less than a week to go before the South Carolina GOP primary, groups are stepping up efforts to turnout non-Republicans to the state’s open primary that allows anyone who didn’t vote in the Democratic contest to vote in the Republican nominating contest.

Only 131,000 participated in South Carolina’s First in the Nation Democratic Primary out of the state’s 3.2 million registered voters.

So far more than 104,000 people have voted early in person or returned an absentee ballot through Saturday, according to the S.C. Election Commission. According to a poll conducted by the Citadel, a majority of voters who plan to vote early in the GOP primary support Haley.

The S.C. GOP has estimated about 1 million people may vote in the primary. About 745,000 people voted in the 2016 S.C. GOP presidential primary.

Independent voters helped Haley only have an 11-point loss to Trump in New Hampshire’s GOP primary, which was open to registered Republicans and independents.

“President Trump is absolutely correct when he says Nikki Haley is relying on liberals and Democrats to infiltrate because that’s who she appeals to,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told ABC News last month ahead of the New Hampshire primary.

Haley has said her campaign doesn’t ask for someone’s party affiliation when they come to her events.

“What we say is do ‘you want something different in our country?’ I’m going to continue doing that. If we get Republicans that’s what I’m shooting for. I welcome that. If we get independents I welcome that if we get Reagan-Democrats that want to come in, I’m gonna take it,” Haley told reporters late last month. “This is about the fact that we need to make the choices. You can have two 80-year-olds running for president, which 70% of the country doesn’t want, or you can say in a general (election) you’re given a choice. In a primary you make the choice.”

As a handful of groups make their pitches to non-Republican voters, the efforts may ultimately be for naught in the ruby red state as both major political parties in the state advocate against the practice.

Super PACs, advocacy groups push for Democrats, independents to cast GOP ballots

The latest group to make a veiled attempt at trying to encourage any registered voter to turnout is Stand For America, Inc., an advocacy group founded by Haley. However, Haley is no longer involved with the group.

The group has aired an ad at least on CNN that calls anyone registered to vote as a way to “end the chaos.” It’s a subtle message at encouraging participation by independent and Democratic voters.

“(Are) you sick of washed off failures who won’t go away, had enough of the scandals, the insults, the lawsuits and the drama. Tired of the rage filled rants and tweets, ready to make it all go away,” the ad says.

The ad also does not explicitly mention any particular candidate.

Stand For America did not comment on the cost of the ad or its strategy.

Super PAC PrimaryPivot is explicitly reaching out to Democratic voters to crossover to the Republican primary.

Ahead of the Feb. 3 presidential primary, the left-leaning PrimaryPivot sent a text message to people who voted in the 2020 Democratic primary encouraging them to stay at home and wait until the GOP primary.

Since then, the super PAC has promoted early voting in the Republican primary and plans one more text message to voters ahead of Feb. 24.

Although many general election polls that ask about a Biden-Haley matchup show Haley doing better than Trump in a 2020 rematch, and PrimaryPivot members aren’t worried about potentially hurting the president’s reelection chances.

“I will sleep very well at night if I know there are two candidates that respect democracy and respect our constitution that are running against each other,” PrimaryPivot Co-Founder Robert Schwartz said in an interview. “Our democracy will be secure and if we spent the last nine years as Democrats saying the most important thing to us is preserving our democracy, and if Donald Trump is a unique threat to our democracy, then we should be trying to stop him at every turn that we can.”

“Would you rather have 100% chance of preserving our democracy, or a 50% coin toss chance of an autocracy in January 2025. That’s how we should be voting,” Schwartz added.

One group is explicitly targeting independent people who are unlikely voters who may not necessarily show up in polling data.

Brian Wynne, an advisor to Independents Moving the Needle, said the group he’s working with is targeting 60% of registered voters who don’t vote in either major party primary.

“There’s a huge number of people that stay home and are disinterested in primaries,” Wynne said.

These voters are not politically engaged and have lower amounts of information about the election and candidates, or just moved into the state recently and are unfamiliar with South Carolina’s presidential primary elections, Wynne said.

Moving the Needle conducted surveys of unlikely voters and found that Haley was their preferred candidate in the Republican primary, Wynne said.

Wynne said the group estimates South Carolina has about 1 million people who could vote for Haley, who normally wouldn’t in a primary if they were motivated to go to the polls.

Moving the Needle is using mail, digital advertising, influencers, and an LED truck traveling around the state to deliver its messages.

“We don’t need to make a case to these people ‘you should support Nikki Haley,’ because by and large they’ll do that on their own, we just need to convince these people to show up,” Wynne said.

Parties against the crossover voting

Both major political parties in the state have spoken out against crossover voting.

The state Republican Party’s platform has called for voter registration by party and closing the primaries to only people who are registered. The party also has an advisory question on the presidential primary ballot asking if registration by party should be allowed in the state.

The state Democratic Party also has encouraged its voters not to participate in the GOP primary and ran a voter turnout campaign for its First in the Nation primary.

In an email to Democratic Party supporters, Executive Director Jay Parmley reminded party members of a Democratic National Committee rule in place for people to participate in county conventions in March, where county party leadership is elected.

“No one who votes in the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary can participate in our county conventions,” Parmley wrote. “Attending these conventions is the best way to engage with fellow Democrats and shape the future of our party.”

But efforts to encourage Democratic and independent voters to participate in the GOP primary may not prove to be successful.

The South Carolina Republican Party has said crossover voting does occur, but not to a high enough level to sway a result.

Trump has a large lead in the latest polls, with recent surveys having the former president’s lead at 33 percentage points or higher.

An Insider Advantage Poll showed Trump leading Haley 60% to 38%, a margin closer than other polling outfits.

“Her numbers are a bit stronger than expected due to a robust, but under reported, effort by PACs and others to recruit Democrats who did not participate in the Democratic primary, along with independents, to vote in the GOP contest,” Insider Advantage’s Matt Towery said in a news release. “Our survey indicates that this effort may have some impact but will be unlikely provide any major boost for Haley.”