As campaign season continues, politicians are turning up the volume on campaign rhetoric. To cut through the noise, we’re launching Campaign Context, a weekly series providing clarity on the messages you’re hearing from candidates on the campaign trail. We’re digging past the politics and into the facts to provide you with the transparent, spin-free information you need to make informed decisions this election season.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Even before her loss in Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary, Nikki Haley announced she planned to stay in the race for the White House regardless of the outcome.
As the former governor of the state, did Haley really need South Carolina to keep her presidential aspirations alive?
History seems to indicate, “Yes, she did.”
In the modern political era (post World War II), every ex-governor who went on to win the presidency won their party’s primary in the state they used to govern — Jimmy Carter in Georgia in 1976, Ronald Reagan in California in 1980, Bill Clinton in Arkansas in 1992 and George W. Bush in Texas in 2000.
All scored big wins, though Reagan’s path to victory was a little easier after George H.W. Bush dropped out of the race before the primary. Likewise, George W. Bush benefited from John McCain’s withdrawal before Bush’s Super Tuesday win.
In all, 17 governors have become president in the nation’s history, starting with former Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson in 1801.
