Senator John McCain Stuns Mike Huckabee, Wins Republican Primary in South Carolina

After a long campaign by many Republican candidates, Arizona Senator John McCain emerged victorious, beating his main opponent Mike Huckabee by a solid 15,000 votes. McCain edged Huckabee by receiving 33% of the vote. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee only received 30% of the vote. Fred Thompson followed in third place with about 16% of the vote.

Mike Huckabee was the favorite to win the GOP primary in South Carolina because of the large Evangelical vote. More than 40% of the voters in South Carolina identify themselves as evangelical Christians. At about 10pm Eastern Time, with almost all precincts reported, John McCain had received 135,000 votes compared to Mike Huckabee who received 121,000 votes.

The win could not have come at a better time for John McCain who had previously only won one primary state in New Hampshire. Mike Huckabee had won the Iowa caucus. Governor Mitt Romney had won the Wyoming and Nevada caucuses and Michigan primary. The win in South Carolina can be contributed to the large base of retired military voters in South Carolina who favor John McCain in his pro-war stance and being a retired war veteran.

For Mike Huckabee, the defeat will definitely be hurting his campaign. Huckabee has not won a primary or caucus since Iowa which was the first state to vote. Huckabee was the favorite to win in South Carolina and his defeat will certainly hurt him in future states. Huckabee relies on the evangelical Christian vote and it will be difficult for Huckabee to win any states in the North that don't have that Evangelical Christian vote.

In the past 30 years, a Republican candidate has not won the primary without winning South Carolina. This bodes well for John McCain since he had been worried about getting Republicans to vote for him. McCain has a strong base of independent support and his win in South Carolina shows that he has been improving with the conservative vote.

The win in South Carolina also means that the Republican primary has been narrowed down to 2 candidates instead of six. The Republican Party now has two main candidates in Mitt Romney and John McCain.