John McCain was leading former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in early returns in South Carolina's Republican presidential primary, media reported Sunday.
According to the report, the veteran Arizona senator held a lead of a few percentage points with less than a tenth of the precincts reporting. Former governor Mitt Romney and former senator Fred Thompson were knotted in a close race for third place.
McCain and Huckabee had both campaigned hard in the state over the last few days, viewing a victory in the South's first primary of the year as essential to their bids for the GOP presidential nomination.
For McCain, South Carolina represented a chance to redeem his loss in the state in 2000 to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, a bitter defeat that all but ended McCain's candidacy.
For Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, South Carolina with its large evangelical community offered him a chance to prove he was more than a one-state wonder after his victory in Iowa.
Source:Xinhua/Agencies
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