Nikki Haley heads to runoff in S.C. governor’s race

Republican Nikki Haley was forced into a runoff by Rep. Gresham Barrett in the South Carolina gubernatorial primary.

The Associated Press has projected Haley project will not break 50 percent and will have to run again against Barrett on June 22nd.

She
had 49 percent of the vote with 1,866 of 2,109 precincts reporting
Tuesday, according to unofficial results. Barrett was in second with 22
percent.

Haley
remained the frontrunner in the race even despite being dogged by
claims she was unfaithful to her husband of 13 years. Conservative
blogger Will Folks claimed he had an affair with the state representative,
as did a Republican consultant working for Republican rival Andre
Bauer’s campaign.

Haley vehemently denied both allegations.

Shortly
before the vote, Bauer announced that he had passed a lie-detector test
he said confirmed he didn’t have any involvement in the efforts to
slime Haley.

Haley was boosted by the endorsement of Sarah Palin, who also flew to South Carolina to campaign with her. Jenny Sanford, the wife of retiring Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), also endorsed Haley.

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

The Democratic Governors Association said the GOP
primary has weakened their eventual nominee.

“The divisive, ugly GOP primary has done nothing but turn off voters
who are tired with politics-as-usual,” Nathan Daschle, DGA chairman,
said in a statement. “The next two weeks promise a race to the bottom
as Nikki Haley and Gresham Barrett battle it out for the nomination.”