Trump wins South Carolina; Bush drops out

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz made a late run at Trump, each getting about 3 in 10 votes from those who decided in the past week. Bush’s announcement opens up the field for second place, where Rubio is competing with Sen. Again, those delegate allocation rules mean that a one-vote Trump victory is as good as a 100 percent Trump victory. Democrats and Republicans will swap locations next week, with the GOP caucus to be held in Nevada on Tuesday and the Democratic face-off to be held in SC on February 27. He then showered praise on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the race on Saturday night.

Marco Rubio said the Republican presidential primary has become a three-person race between himself, Trump and Cruz.

Bush, having already finished sixth in Iowa and fourth in New Hampshire, couldn’t effectively carry on without a strong SC showing – either top three or close to Rubio, his most immediate rival.

Cruz touted his record as he thanked his supporters in Columbia, saying he was the only candidate who could beat Trump and the only candidate who has led the fights against amnesty and Obamacare and the fights to defend life, marriage, religious liberty and the Second Amendment.

Since announcing his bid for the White House, Trump has led in most polls, despite a string of controversial comments and flip-flops on issues such as same-sex marriage. After attacking George W. Bush, who is popular in S.C., as well as entering a brief feud with Pope Francis, his win illustrates that Trump is capable of taking on positions that would prove to be the undoing of nearly any other USA politician.

And yet, despite endorsements from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Senator Tim Scott, and US Representative Trey Gowdy, in the final analysis, Rubio really didn’t close strongly. And three-quarters of voters supported the Muslim ban proposed by Trump.

She said: “To all my supporters out there – some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other”.

“There’s nothing easy about running for president”, Trump said at his victory rally.

Mrs Clinton’s victory in the Nevada Democratic caucuses could help calm Democratic Party worries about the strength of her campaign. “In this campaign, I have stood my ground, refusing to bend to the political winds”, added a very emotional Bush. The candidate that won there went on to the nomination in every Republican primary since 1980 except for the last one.

Check back here for live voting results as they come in.

With Bush’s departure, there are five candidates remaining with one more race before Super Tuesday on March 1.