Map Reveals How Donald Trump Beat Nikki Haley in South Carolina

By Kate Plummer

Former President Donald Trump beat Nikki Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary election by securing a high number of votes in rural and suburban areas, and winning in the majority of state counties, according to data.

Trump, the overall GOP frontrunner, won the state with 59.8 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press. Haley, the state's former governor who is also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, garnered 39.5 percent of the vote share.

Trump won 70 percent of votes in rural areas, which made up 36 percent of primary voters, according to data analysis by The New York Times. The publication also found he won 54 percent of suburban votes, which made up 57 percent of primary voters, and 77 percent of votes in areas with fewer college graduates, who made up 11 percent of primary voters.

In lower income areas, the former president won 72 percent of votes. In high income areas, Haley had a small lead with 51 percent of votes. She also performed better than Trump in urban areas, with 55 percent of the vote share, and in areas with more college graduates, in which she garnered 54 percent of votes.

Meanwhile, data from the South Carolina Election Commission similarly shows that Trump won by winning the majority of counties in the state.

Map — A South Carolina Election Commission map shows the results of the GOP primary in the state on February 24. The red areas indicate counties which voted for Nikki Haley and the blue shows areas which...

A spokesperson for Trump told Newsweek: "President Trump once again dominated and it's now time for everyone to coalesce around him in order to defeat Crooked Joe Biden."

Newsweek also contacted representatives for Haley by email to comment on this story.

In response to his win, Trump said in a speech some 10 minutes after the polls closed: "This is a little sooner than we anticipated. And an even BIGGER WIN than we anticipated. I was just informed that we got double the number of votes that has ever been received in the great state of South Carolina so that's pretty good so it's a record times two."

Meanwhile, despite facing calls to drop out of the race, Haley, the one remaining Trump rival in the Republican primary, refused to suspend her campaign and vowed: "We will keep fighting."

"I said earlier this week, that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president," Haley said in a speech on Saturday night. "I'm a woman of my word."

Trump and Haley's next big challenge will take place on Super Tuesday, on March 5, when 16 states and territories will cast their ballots on the same day.

In the Republican primaries as a whole, Trump is projected to win 76.7 percent of the vote share while Haley is on 15.6 percent, according to the latest data from polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.