Nikki Haley is hoping to turn out Trump-averse Democrats in Saturday’s South Carolina primary

By Samuel Benson

Polls indicate that Donald Trump should win South Carolina’s Republican primary comfortably this Saturday. But Nikki Haley — the state’s former governor — is going beyond her Republican base: In the hopes of an upset victory, she’s asking Democrats to vote for her, too.

During a rally in Georgetown, South Carolina, on Thursday, Haley told attendees to “take five people with you” to polls this weekend, before adding a reminder: “Anybody can vote in this election, as long as you didn’t vote in the Democrat primary on Feb. 3.”

Just over 130,000 Democrats voted in their party’s primary earlier this month, a relatively low turnout — around 4% of registered voters statewide. In a last-moment heave, Haley is trying to bank on the huge number of remaining Democratic and independent voters to provide a burst of momentum.

The call isn’t coming from Haley alone. SFA Fund Inc., the super PAC backing Haley, sent out mailers throughout the state, reminding Democrats that they may be eligible to vote in the Republican primary. “Time is running out,” the mailers read. “You have a choice. Vote for Nikki Haley against Donald Trump.”

Another group, PrimaryPivot, sent out thousands of texts to Democrats before their party’s primary, reminding voters they could “make your vote count by protecting democracy” by voting in the Republican primary, where “democracy itself is on the line.” The group sent out a follow-up text last week to Democrats who didn’t vote in their party’s primary, nudging them to “vote for a candidate that respects democracy in the more competitive primary.”

“Our objective was not to damage Joe Biden in any way,” Robert Schwartz, a co-founder of PrimaryPivot and a longtime Democrat, said. “It did get interpreted by the media as encouraging people to sit out, which is incorrect.”

Instead, Schwartz said, his goal is “encouraging people to think about where their vote matters most. And we obviously believe that their vote matters more in the Republican primary than in a Democratic primary, where Joe Biden won by 96%.”

https://www.deseret.com/2024/2/22/24080041/nikki-haley-south-carolina-republican-primary-democrats