Nikki Haley was asked by a New Hampshire voter about the reason for the Civil War, and she didn’t mention slavery — leading the voter to say he was “astonished” by her omission.

"What do you want me to say about slavery?" she retorted.

My latest:

apnews.com/article/haley-… Issues surrounding the origins of the Civil War and its heritage are still much of the fabric of Haley’s home state, and she has been pressed on the war’s origins before. As she ran for governor in 2010, Haley, in an interview with a now-defunct activist group then known as The Palmetto Patriots, described the war as between two disparate sides fighting for “tradition” and “change” and said the Confederate flag was “not something that is racist.”

Tonight I'm in Myrtle Beach, where @NikkiHaley is holding her 1st SC rally since her 2024 launch.

Following her 2/15 debut, Haley visited CPAC & held events elsewhere incl NH & IA.

Not announcing $ thus far, Haley says she'll wait until the end of Q1.
apnews.com/article/politi… In her stump, Haley hits on legislative accomplishments & gubernatorial accomplishments, like making SC an “economic powerhouse.”

Big cheers re: Chinese spy balloon, shot down near here:

“SC has beautiful beaches but that’s not why that spy balloon was up there,” she says. twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge says US Sen @LindseyGrahamSC must testify before an Atlanta special grand jury probing whether former President Trump & his allies broke any laws while trying to overturn his narrow 2020 general election loss in the state. apnews.com/article/2022-m… A Graham spokesman tells me "nothing on the ruling yet" in terms of comment but referred to Graham's comments when asked about the probe last week.

"We will take this as far as we need to take it," Graham said then, calling the effort "weaponization of the law."

Russian troops are shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power station in Ukraine.

“There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.”

The plant accounts for about one quarter of Ukraine’s power generation.

apnews.com/article/russia… KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian government official says smoke visible from Europe’s largest nuclear plant as Russia attacks city of Enerhodar.

JUST IN: The mayor of SC's capital city of Columbia, @SteveBenjaminSC, has declared a state of emergency that requires faculty, staff & children over the age of two to wear a mask in all buildings at public and private schools or daycares in the city. This is a move that is sure to create a battle between the city and South Carolina's Governor @HenryMcMaster, as well as the GOP-dominated legislature, who recently passed legislation making mask mandates in SC public schools illegal.

Today I’m at @SCSTATE1896, where former UN Ambassador & SC Gov @NikkiHaley is touring improvements at the Orangeburg campus with President James Clark. This visit comes about 2 weeks ahead of a trip by former Vice President @Mike_Pence to South Carolina, home to the first-in-the-South presidential primaries.

Both Haley & Pence are mentioned as possible contenders for the Republican Party’s 2024 nomination.

Confirming this. A source with knowledge of the situation says it was a "mutual decision."

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1355683228640813061

Bowers and Barbier are well respected ethics lawyers on both sides of the aisle. They have represented high-profile SC politicians over the years.

New: On a call with reporters just now, @WhipClyburn says ex-President Bush told him he’s “the savior” because of his role in helping Biden win the Democratic nomination.

Clyburn says Bush went on to call Biden “the only one who could have defeated the incumbent president.” Here’s a piece from @APLaurieKellman & me on Clyburn’s kingmaker moment in the pivotal South Carolina primary that altered the shape of the entire presidential race last year.

apnews.com/article/74ca4d…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump departs White House for final time as president, will travel to Florida instead of Biden's inauguration WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden, Kamala Harris arrive at US Capitol for inaugural ceremony and swearing-in

A jab at @LindseyGrahamSC from the president's son. 👀

https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1324480774821826561

I reached out to Graham for comment. His spokesman simply responded:

"Graham on Hannity tonight at 9pm."

Though polls had shown a close race, local observers urged caution, citing the state’s history of electing statewide Republicans by wide margins.

When the votes were counted, @LindseyGrahamSC had won by 11 percentage points.

My retrospect of #SCSen.

apnews.com/article/senate… In his candidacy’s nascence, @HarrisonJaime told me he imagined it'd take $10M to oust Graham. In the end, he raised more than 10 times that, becoming the first Senate candidate ever to cross the $100M threshold.

In all, he brought in a total of $130M, according to his campaign.

JUST IN: @JoeCunninghamSC not conceding #SC01 for now. Campaign says in statement that "both candidates have agreed that every ballot must be counted and every voice heard before an election result is called.”

@NancyMace, however, tells me she accepts last night's race call. Mace goes on to tell me that she hasn’t spoken with Cunningham or his campaign since the result was announced, adding “the ‘agreed to’ part is disappointing.”

BREAKING: #APRaceCall - Veteran Rep @WhipClyburn defeats Republican challenger @MccollumFor in #SouthCarolina's 6th District, securing his 15th term in Congress #SC06 #Election2020 BREAKING: #APRaceCall - Republican @RepJeffDuncan defeats Democratic challenger @ClevelandHosea in #SouthCarolina's 3rd District, securing his 6th term in Congress #SC03 #Election2020

Tonight, I'm at @LindseyGrahamSC HQ in Columbia, SC.
Polls close at 7pm.
Will update on #SCSen, as well as other state & nat'l race calls.
Will tweet AP race calls as they come.

@AP may not be first, but we'd rather be right.

So be patient - and stay tuned! #Election2020 As we wait, there's a hiccup in #SC01.

13,500 mail-in ballots could not be read by scanners because of a printing error.

They will need to be entered by hand, so there may not be a race call tonight if the race is close.

@JSCollinsAP reports.

apnews.com/article/charle…

NEW: Senate candidate @harrisonjaime announcing this morning that he has raised a record $57 million in the Q3 in his race against @LindseyGrahamSC.

This is the highest quarterly amount raised by a Senate candidate in US history.

Brings his total haul to an unfathomable $86M. These lines from the Q2 story I wrote back in 2019 continue to stick out:

"Harrison, 43, has said that he thinks it could take $10 million to win the race next year."

"In the first quarter of 2019, (Graham) raised more than $2 million, setting a personal quarterly record."

Sen. ⁦@LindseyGrahamSC⁩ and ⁦@harrisonjaime⁩ are set to meet for their second debate tonight, although campaign clashes over COVID-19 are stirring doubts of whether the matchup will go on at all.

My story on this #SCSen pre-debate, debate. apnews.com/32aac71fc733dc… Harrison threatened to tank the debate, scheduled for 7 p.m. in Spartanburg, unless Graham takes another COVID-19 test.

Officials in the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, are expected to vote to remove a 100-foot-high statue of former vice president & slavery advocate John C. Calhoun.

I'll be in Charleston tonight, after the City Council votes.

apnews.com/3e3d4a9cf077ae… CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — City Council votes to remove statue of former U.S. vice president and slavery advocate John C. Calhoun from Charleston, South Carolina, square.

I’m in Charlotte, where @BernieSanders is holding a rally this afternoon, the 2nd of his events today in North Carolina. This is a Super Tuesday state, and early voting here started yesterday. “The time for revolution is now!” says DNC member Ray McKinnon, who endorsed @BernieSanders this week. “Don’t let anybody tell you that the senator is not electable.”

As someone who covered many 2016 Sanders rallies, the energy of this event feels very similar thus far.

In the wake of this story, Steyer's campaign tells me @SCDP is essentially lying/retaliating:

"The narrative that the State Party and the DNC is pushing is purely false. This seems to be an attack on the former employee due to leaving his job to work with the Steyer campaign."

https://twitter.com/jslovegrove/status/1191499081723592704

@scdp More to come.

NEW: Sen.@KamalaHarris is pulling out of an SC criminal justice forum tomorrow, after President @RealDonaldTrump today received an award from the organizers. Most 2020 Dems are scheduled to appear this weekend.

Here's some context from @APkfreking and me. apnews.com/b59668424ae246… @KamalaHarris @realDonaldTrump @APkfreking MORE: Harris received the same "Bipartisan Justice Award" in 2016, along with @SenatorTimScott of South Carolina.
Calling it "shameful" that today's event excluded all but 9 students, Harris plans to host her own forum tomorrow in Columbia, with details, TBA. Story in edit.

It’s @scdp convention weekend, which’ll be the largest single gathering so far of 2020 hopefuls. Tonight I’ll be at @WhipClyburn’s “World Famous Fish Fry,” a SC Democratic politics mainstay that’s become a popular stop on the road to the White House. apnews.com/d6e01e60667d4e… CONVENTION SIDELINES: I just spoke with @dccc Chairwoman @RepCheri Bustos ahead of her keynote at tonight's @SCDP dinner. Hoping to build on its "fragile majority" won in '18, Bustos says DCCC is engaging earlier than ever w/ young & minority voters "and earn every vote" in '20.