Scott was serving in the U.S. House when Haley, then the governor of South Carolina, appointed him to fill the unexpired term of Sen. Jim DeMint. But South Carolina state senator Josh Kimbrell contends that tie won't be enough for Haley to pick up votes in her home state where she's already not the favored candidate.
"Most of the [South Carolina] people, whether they're elected officials or just primary voters in the state who supported Senator Scott, are far more likely to gravitate now toward Gov. [Ron] DeSantis than former Gov. Haley," Kimbrell said on American Family Radio Tuesday.
[Editor's note: Respondents to an online AFN poll believe Scott's support will benefit
Donald Trump and Haley most, followed by DeSantis.]
Kimbrell said more than 50 South Carolina lawmakers have gotten behind DeSantis.
"We now have the highest number of endorsements of any candidate in the race, any candidate, including Trump, in South Carolina, for DeSantis," Kimbrell told show host Jenna Ellis. "I think he's up to 56 people in this state. My colleagues in the Senate, the House, members of Congress, across the board we have a huge amount of support for Gov. DeSantis here, and I think it's pretty telling that Sen. Scott did not endorse Nikki Haley when he dropped out."
The reason for that, Kimbrell speculates, is that Haley has presented herself as the one mostly responsible for Scott's political rise.
When appointed by Haley, Scott became one of three black U.S. senators in the 113th Congress. He was the first black senator from South Carolina, the first from the South since Reconstruction.
Seen as an energetic and optimistic conservative, Scott drew some interest in summer polling but never gained serious traction. Money was becoming an issue with his campaign, NBC News reported.
'Complicated history' between Scott and Haley
Kimbrell said there's a "complicated history" between Scott and Haley.
"The former governor has been pretty critical of Senator Scott running [for the nomination], like somehow she put him where he was, and she tried to make it look like, you know, you're here because of me, Senator. Obviously [Scott] respectfully disagreed, and I think he has every right to respectfully disagree. He's been elected multiple times since he was appointed to the seat. His not endorsing her speaks volumes, actually," Kimbrell added.
Somewhat in contrast, Haley praised Scott on social media upon his exit from the race.
"Tim Scott is a good man of faith and an inspiration to so many. The Republican primary was made better by his participation in it. South Carolina is blessed to continue to have him as our senator," Haley wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Inspiration is not something most South Carolinians find in Haley, according to Kimbrell, a longtime DeSantis supporter.
"The former governor has certain credentials as it pertains to being ambassador to the United Nations, and I don't take that away from her; but Gov. DeSantis has been strong on pro-Israel issues and supporting our closest ally in the Mideast if we want to talk about international relations," Kimbrell said.
He also said Haley is lacking on the social side of the party platform.
"When you get into pro-life and talking about defending life, Gov. DeSantis is certainly much closer to the conservative and evangelical voters on those issues than former Gov. Haley. I do believe that at this point, the race does start to consolidate down – and I think that in South Carolina, you will see most people going over to the governor of Florida," Kimbrell predicted.
Haley's stance on abortion hasn't been strong enough for some. She signed a South Carolina bill in 2016 banning abortion in most circumstances after 19 weeks, but angered some pro-life groups when she said restrictions should be decided at the state level.
Will GOP field consolidate against Trump?
It may take the elimination of candidates – provided the survivors can consolidate support – to make a dent in Trump's commanding lead in primary polling.
The current average of polls shows the embattled ex-president at 58.6% followed by DeSantis (14.1%), Haley (9.0%) and newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy (5.0%). Chris Christie, Doug Burgum and Asa Hutchinson are less than 3%, the latter two less than 1%.
And while it's might be easy for outsiders to conclude a former governor would win a presidential primary in her home state, Kimbrell said that won't happen.
"Nikki Haley will not win here. She's not going to win in South Carolina. People outside the state have a hard time understanding that, but she really abandoned South Carolina after she left the governor's office. She wasn't really in touch with anybody here," he contended.
"I really believe Gov. DeSantis will win in Iowa – and I think now that Sen. Scott's out, you may see consolidation here that bumps DeSantis firmly back into second place," Kimbrell said.
And should DeSantis win in Iowa, the state legislator expects that would "reshuffle the entire dynamic of the race" – to the point that the Florida governor could win the South Carolina primary several weeks later.
