Veteran operatives from both parties call the scale of these efforts “hyper-high,” if not unprecedented, even in a state where some cross-voting is the norm. The initiative has angered many Republicans and some Democrats, and has reignited debate over whether South Carolina, which does not require voter registration, should limit its primaries to party members.
And there are other factors working against those trying to attract Democrats to the GOP primaries. The state Democratic Party has threatened retaliation against Democrats who voted in the Republican race. And Haley’s relationship with black South Carolinians, who make up the bulk of the state’s Democratic voters, has been strained since her days in the governor’s office.
Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist based in South Carolina, said Haley and her allies are trying to show they can cobble together a broader coalition and “reduce the severity of the blow” she is expected to suffer today.
But “I don’t think I’ll get many Democrats on board,” he said.
Haley-aligned groups and outside organizations believe they have a large group of Democratic-leaning voters to draw from. Only 131,000 people voted in the Democratic primary earlier this month, substantially fewer than the nearly 540,000 people who voted in the same race in 2020. If even a small percentage of those people vote in the Republican primary, the strategists behind the Outreach efforts to Democratic voters could make a difference for Haley.
An email sent by Haley’s advocacy group, Stand for America Inc., reminds voters that they “do not need to be a registered Republican” to participate in the GOP primary. “Democracy counts on your participation,” said the
email obtained by POLITICO read. “It’s not too late to make her voice heard.”
Meanwhile, SFA Fund Inc., a pro-Haley super PAC, is explicitly urging voters who did not participate in the Democratic race to vote for Haley, according to an email first reported by NBC News.
And at least two groups not aligned with Haley, Progressive Source PAC and Primary Pivot, are trying to convince voters to vote for her as a protest against Trump.
Progressive Source PAC has spent nearly $10,000 on digital ads targeting blue South Carolina districts, encouraging Democrats and independents to vote for Haley in the Republican primary, and reminding them that they can then vote for President Joe Biden in November. The group’s YouTube video had racked up more than 360,000 views as of the eve of the primary.
“Haley’s Democratic and independent voters are the wild card in this race,” said Jonathan Greenberg, the California-based journalist and prominent Trump critic who founded the political action committee. “We believe that what we are doing will have an impact and can help reduce the expected loss.”
Primary Pivot has sent two rounds of text messages to approximately 207,000 Democrats and independents urging them to vote in the Republican primary, one before the Democratic primary and another on the eve of the Republican contest. The group is running ads on Facebook and Instagram, and on Thursday made a $15,000 ad buy targeting suburban Democrats on major radio stations in Columbia, Charleston and Greenville, according to one of its co-founders, the liberal activist Robert Schwartz.
Still, Schwartz said, those efforts are likely, at best, to bring Haley only a few points closer to Trump.
“We’re just trying to help Nikki Haley do a little better,” Schwartz said. “But we’re realistic that she’s going to lose to Trump by a pretty wide margin.”