Haley vs. Trump: Beaufort Co. voters show up strong at polls. Here’s how they voted

Beaufort County voters made a strong showing in the first few hours of the Palmetto State’s 2024 Republican presidential primary. Saturday marks a critical moment for former two-term governor Nikki Haley, who has campaigned fervently across South Carolina in hopes of winning her home state — and her first GOP contest — over former president Donald Trump.

Marie S. Smalls, director of the county’s Board of Voter Registration and Elections, said residents had cast 16,951 ballots as of 1:55 p.m. Saturday, not including early voting numbers. The turnout was “a little bit more” than expected, which she attributed to the contested race.

Even with five hours left to vote, Saturday’s numbers far exceeded those for the Feb. 3 Democratic primary, when only 5,867 county residents voted. President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic nominee, won all 55 of the party’s delegates from South Carolina.

Despite Haley’s name recognition in South Carolina, a victory on Saturday is unlikely. Most statewide polls show the former U.N. ambassador 25 to 30 percentage points behind Trump, who maintains a wide populist appeal despite his four criminal indictments brought forward last year.

Even still, Haley has repeatedly claimed she’s “not going anywhere,” pledging to stay in the race until after Super Tuesday on March 5, when over a dozen states will make their choice for the Republican and Democratic nominations.

How will Beaufort County vote?

Early Saturday afternoon, two voters leaving the Community Bible Church — the voting precinct for Burton 2A and 2B — said they considered themselves Democrats but had cast their ballot for Haley in an effort to defeat Trump. South Carolina is an open primary state, meaning any registered voter can chose to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary.

Haley made three appearances in the Beaufort County area in the weeks leading up to Saturday’s vote: Bluffton, Hilton Head and most recently Beaufort’s Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park. In those speeches, she attempted to appeal to independent or even Democratic voters in the audience, citing early 2024 polls showing she had a better chance than Trump at defeating Biden.

After primaries and caucuses earlier this year in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the Virgin Islands, Trump leads with 63 delegates over Haley’s 14. After Saturday’s voting concludes, 29 at-large delegates will be allocated to the statewide winner, while three delegates will go to the winner of each of the state’s seven congressional districts.

That means 50 delegates at the Republican National Convention are up for grabs in South Carolina on Saturday. At least 1,215 delegates — a majority of the total 2,429 — are required to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

Polls are open until 7 p.m. statewide on Saturday. Residents can check their voting status and find their voting precinct at sc.votes.gov.