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South Carolina voter exit polls show how Trump won state’s 2024 Republican primary
Note: Exit poll percentages may have updated since this post was published.
The home-state advantage wasn’t there for Nikki Haley Saturday in the 2024 South Carolina Republican primary.
Former President Donald Trump was projected to win the South Carolina Republican primary, besting Haley among most key demographic groups. He won majorities of both men and women and among all age groups.
Trump ran especially well among parts of the Republican base that were predominant in the GOP electorate, including conservatives and White evangelicals. More than four in 10 South Carolina GOP primary voters identified themselves as part of the MAGA movement and nearly nine in 10 of them backed Trump.
The former president also beat Haley among veterans.
Haley did well with independents and moderates, but there weren’t a lot of them.
South Carolina has an “open primary,” meaning any registered voter could participate in the state’s Republican presidential primary as long as they did not vote in the state’s Democratic primary. Even so, just over a quarter of voters self-identified as independents and just about 4% as Democrats — a far smaller share compared to the GOP primary electorate in New Hampshire.
So, while Haley did well among independent voters, there weren’t enough of them to make her competitive with Trump.
Haley also performed relatively better among college graduates and moderates, polling even with Trump among the first group and handily beating him among the latter. Haley led among voters who oppose a national abortion ban, something that most GOP primary voters favor, but most likely general election voters oppose it.
The former South Carolina governor also won among those voting in a Republican primary for the first time and among those who made up their minds in the final weeks of the campaign. Both of these groups comprised relatively small shares of the GOP electorate in South Carolina.
Haley campaigned on her foreign policy credentials, and she led Trump among voters who picked foreign policy as their top issue, but few voters chose it relative to issues like immigration and the economy, and Trump won the voters who prioritized those issues.
More South Carolina voters think Trump is electable in November
Haley has argued that she is the more electable candidate in a general election, and CBS News national polling shows she fares better than Trump against President Biden. But Republican primary voters in South Carolina feel Trump is their best shot: more say Trump is very likely to defeat Mr. Biden than say Haley is.
Candidate qualities and characteristics
Haley has questioned Trump’s mental fitness for office, but Trump’s voters overwhelmingly refute this, and most charge that it’s Haley who lacks the physical and mental health needed to serve effectively as president. As a result, Trump beats Haley on this measure among overall.
Haley’s charges that Trump is a “chaos candidate” didn’t seem to resonate with South Carolina voters either. Though she led Trump by a wide margin among those who wanted a candidate with the right temperament, few voters picked that as their top quality.
Instead, just as they did in Iowa and New Hampshire, voters were looking for a candidate who fights for people like them and shares their values, and Trump defeated Haley handily among voters who picked these qualities.
Haley had some late momentum, but it wasn’t enough
Momentum shifted toward Haley in the weeks leading up to primary day. Among the fewer than one in five who made their decision this month, most backed Haley. But most of the electorate had made up their minds before February, and they backed Trump.
Trump’s legal woes don’t matter to most
Still, Trump’s control of the narrative and political agenda is clear in how the South Carolina GOP electorate views both the state of the country and Donald Trump as a candidate. Voters express pessimism, if not downright anger, at the way things are going in the country — citing immigration as their top concern — and nearly half rate the economy as poor. More than six in 10 reject the idea that Mr. Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, and most think Trump would be fit to serve in the White House even if he were to be convicted of one of the several indictments against him.
The exit poll for South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary was conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the National Election Pool. It includes interviews with more than 2,100 Republican primary voters across 40 different polling places in South Carolina on the primary election day.
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Nearly three-fourths of adults 65 or older will need some sort of long-term care at some point during their remaining years, statistics show. But, unfortunately, this care can come with jaw-droppingly high prices — it costs, for example, over $100,000 per year on average for a private room in a nursing home — and Medicare isn’t much help.
For these reasons, it’s important to plan ahead for the costs. Before you hit 60, you should have some important long-term care decisions made — including how you’ll cover the costs of that care.
Learn more about your long-term care coverage options online now.
4 important long-term care decisions to make before age 60, experts say
Are you closing in on age 60? Here are the questions you need to answer fast:
What products you’ll need
There are lots of options when it comes to paying for long-term care. While you can use retirement accounts to cover the cost, that can reduce your nest egg significantly — and fast.
You’ll likely want to consider annuities, life insurance riders, health savings accounts, or a long-term care insurance policy instead. The latter is specifically geared toward long-term care needs.
There are other options, too, according to Chris Orestis, president at Retirement Genius.
“If they own a life insurance policy they could cash it out through a life settlement and use the funds for care,” Orestsis says. “Or they can consider a reverse mortgage, home equity loan, or senior bridge loan to draw down on their home’s value to pay for care.”
Start your search for the right long-term care insurance policy here.
What facilities you might consider using
You should also decide what services and facilities you want to use as you age. For one, the cost of in-home care, assisted living communities and nursing home facilities vary widely.
On top of this, long-term care insurance policies typically stipulate which services you can use, so if you’re going this route, you’ll want to be sure your policy covers the right options.
“Some long-term care solutions limit home health care vs. facility care or offer reimbursement benefits vs. cash indemnity-style benefits,” says Joseph Gaj, director of insurance at Wealth Enhancement Group. “It’s important to pick the product type that fits your needs best.”
When you can pull the trigger
Once you decide how you’re going to pay for your long-term care needs, the next step is to determine when you can pull the trigger on setting up or purchasing that solution. With long-term care insurance policies, for instance, the earlier you can act, the better.
“The younger and healthier a person is when they apply, the easier to obtain and the less expensive long-term care insurance will be,” says Brian Gordon, a long-term care advisor and president at Gordon Associates.
That’s because long-term care policies require medical underwriting. And the older you get, the more likely you are to have health problems — and need to file a claim.
“The sweet spot to buy a long-term care policy is age 60, assuming someone is at standard health or better,” Orestis says. “Almost 80% of long-term care coverage is purchased by people between the ages of 50 to 69.”
What company you’ll use
If you do opt for a long-term care insurance policy, you should start doing your research. Not only can this help you find the best policy and provider for your needs, but it could save you cash.
“Look for companies that give discounts,” says Rhonda Vry-Bills, an instructor with Certification for Long Term Care. These often include partner discounts (for getting a policy with your spouse) and discounts for maintaining good health, she says.
You should also consider a company’s financial solvency and check its rating with rating companies like A.M. Best, Standard & Poor’s, or Moody’s Investors Service. You want to be sure they’ll be around to cover claims — even decades down the road.
The bottom line
And, it’s important that you try not to go at it alone. If you want the best coverage, premiums and provider, talk to a professional. They can help you determine the right moves for your needs and money.
“Work with a long-term care specialist,” Bills says. “They will assist you in shopping out all strategies — not just one company or one strategy.”
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