McCain Wins South Carolina Primary; Huckabee Close Second

John McCain won after a close battle in the South Carolina primary: John McCain 33.22%; Mike Huckabee 29.83%; Fred Thompson 15.76%; Mitt Romney 15.14%; Ron Paul 3.69%; Rudy Giuliani 2.07% and Duncan Hunter 0.24%,. Giuliani and Hunter did not compete in South Carolina and Mitt Romney and Ron Paul focused in Nevada. Also, five other candidates competed but all received less than .03%. The primary was an "open primary" which means voters could cross over and vote in the Republican Primary. The democrat primary will be held on Jan. 26th.

Over 36% of the Republican in South Carolina did not vote for the top two candidates. John McCain had strong support from the numerous military bases in the state. With over 50% of the Republican voters in South Carolina being identified as evangelical, Mike Huckabee campaign failed to pull enough evangelical votes to win.

South Carolina has 24 delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention. They have been awarded as follows: McCain 18 delegates and Huckabee 6 delegates.

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