Update: Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush announced he was suspending his campaign following the news that he came in at fourth place with 7.8% of the vote.
As the South Carolina Republican primary rolls to a close, the strong lead that a victory could offer is up for grabs.
Donald Trump lead the pack, at 32.5% and a total of 44 delegates. Ted Cruz claimed second place, with a far-behind 22.5% and Marco Rubio made a strong showing in third place with 22.3%, a virtual tie. While Trump still has a stronghold on the nomination, Cruz and Rubio look paired up to fight it out for second place, but sadly, no delegates.
Unlike in Iowa and New Hampshire, where delegates are parceled out according to percentages of the popular vote, a victory in South Carolina is more complete. In this case, the top candidate gets 29 delegates, along with 3 more for each Congressional district he wins, according to The Washington Post. Sweeping the districts would give a candidate 50 votes for the Republican nomination.
On Friday afternoon, statistics and polling complied by FiveThirtyEight found that Trump was the frontrunner, with between a 78% and 83% chance of winning the state. The site also predicted that Ted Cruz would be the runner up-in the first southern state to vote.
The remaining Republican candidates could also see their ranks shrink drastically very soon. After the New Hampshire primary, three GOP candidates ended their campaigns in the span of only a few days.