Sen. Tim Scott’s sudden departure from the GOP presidential primary won’t be accompanied by an endorsement for one of his rivals anytime soon, three people in Scott’s orbit told NBC News. But Scott’s donors and voters are very much looking for what’s next — and his fellow primary candidates are keen on swaying them.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged his presidential campaign’s national finance committee on a private conference call to recruit Scott’s donors, NBC News reported. Meanwhile, a Scott donor already organized a fundraiser for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, as Bloomberg reported.
Representatives for Haley and Trump did not respond to NBC News when asked if they were actively courting Scott’s support. While DeSantis’ campaign declined to comment on such an effort, it did say in a statement they felt best positioned to pick up evangelical voters in Iowa who were drawn to Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence, who also recently dropped out of the race.
“Tim Scott and Mike Pence were surging resources in Iowa, looking to attract evangelical supporters, and unlike Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis is making headway with those voters,” Andrew Romeo, DeSantis’ communications director, said. “In the coming weeks, these voters will see that Nikki Haley’s record and values don’t match her rhetoric.”
It’s not clear, however, that DeSantis is in the best position to pick up Scott’s supporters. The most recent NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa, which showed former President Donald Trump with 43% and Haley and DeSantis tied at 16%, found that Scott’s support is pretty evenly distributed among Trump, Haley and DeSantis when assigned to his backers’ second choice.
What is clear for the moment is that Scott himself won’t be urging his former backers to get behind another candidate, as he told Fox News on Sunday.
“He’s not going to endorse, especially in the near term. I can guarantee you that,” one Scott campaign official told NBC News, saying the senator will aim his focus on Israel and upcoming budget fights. “I do not see a world in the next weeks ahead where he’s going to come out for Nikki, Ron or Donald.”
Shery Smith, a Scott backer and school board member in Sumter County, South Carolina, said it’s way too soon to know just how his supporters will break. She’s still grappling with where to go, too.
“A lot of people are shocked,” she said, adding she does not expect Scott to endorse ahead of the Iowa caucuses. “A lot of folks are disappointed.”
In South Carolina, one Trump ally said they did not think Scott was getting out of the race in hopes of boosting either the former president or one of his challengers, saying the move from Scott was strategic in boosting his own image. The senator, who was rarely attacked by rivals on the campaign trail, leaves the race without suffering a potentially disappointing finish in Iowa or, even worse, a crushing loss in his home state.
“Getting out now also preserves a lot of his financial resources,” this person said, “which could make him formidable in whatever he decides to do next.”
This person said it is their expectation that Trump will be the biggest beneficiary of Scott’s departure from the race, though. Trump has led Haley in recent polls of South Carolina by at least 25 percentage points, while Scott typically registered in the high single-digits.
“Some people were just loyal enough to Tim Scott to give him their vote” over Trump, the Trump ally said. “And I would expect a shift in a lot of those voters towards President Trump.”
In summarizing why Scott’s campaign fell short, his allies said it was simple: From the day Scott announced, Trump’s primary standing only grew stronger.
“There’s obviously consolidation happening,” one Scott ally said. “There’s still a good amount of time between now and Iowa. But it’s going to become increasingly difficult as Donald Trump continues to suck up so much of the oxygen.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
