South Carolina made Donald Trump the clear front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, revived Sen. Marco Rubio's campaign and sounded the death knell for Jeb Bush.
The New York businessman won his second convincing victory in a week, following New Hampshire. Rubio, pronounced dead after a dismal New Hampshire performance, was locked in a tight battle with Ted Cruz for second place, well ahead of the rest of the field. Bush, trailing badly, dropped out as the South Carolina results came in.
Cruz failed to dominate the heavily evangelical vote in the state, a disappointment to a campaign that relied heavily on that constituency.