Down, not out Nikki Haley presses on for Republicans not ready to crown Trump

Despite a stinging loss in her home state of South Carolina, the presidential hopeful is refusing to quit the race

- Lauren Gambino CHARLESTON

Losing South Carolina is almost always a bad omen for presidential hopefuls and defeat in a candidate's home state is viewed as irrevocable. But as the last Republican standing between Donald Trump and the party nomination, Nikki Haley thrilled supporters last Saturday by deftly capitalising on her small but consistent show of support from voters desperate for an alternative.

Trump was declared the winner within one minute of polls closing in the Palmetto State, an unsurprising but nevertheless stinging rebuke for Haley at the hands of the voters who twice elected her governor.

"That is really something," Trump told supporters in Columbia, the state's capital. "This was a little sooner than we anticipated."

It was Haley's fourth consecutive loss this primary season. With the odds, and history, weighted against her, she refused to bow out. Addressing supporters at a primary party in Charleston, Haley conceded to Trump, but said it was clear a significant share of the vote - perhaps as much as 40% - of Republicans were not looking to crown the king.

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