Columbia, SC (WLTX) - The South Carolina Republican Party held the 49th Silver Elephant dinner at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
Hundreds gathered for the annual event.
Governor Nikki Haley addressed the crowd ahead of Saturday's convention, where delegates will be chosen to go to the national convention in Cleveland.The dinner comes just days after Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump was named the nominee.
There were mixed feelings from Republicans on if they would support Trump as the nominee for the party."I am still hopeful that he will not get to the 1237 that he needs, or that there will be some kind of rule change, something that we will be able to stop Mr. Trump from getting that nomination," says Janice Harper, who is running as a delegate in Saturday's convention.
"It's time that everybody rally around the one candidate, Donald Trump, and make sure that we heal the wounds from a very brutal campaign," says Richard Peterson, Republican.Both Senator Tim Scott and Republican Party Chair Matt Moore feel the same about rallying around Trump as the nominee.
"Donald Trump won numerous states across different regions of the country," says Moore. "That deserves, in my opinion, respect. He is the party's nominee, he won the nomination and is the presumptive nominee.""If you look at the state of the country, Hillary Clinton is the wrong candidate without any question," says Sen. Scott. "We're going to support our party's nominee. We're going to support the party that knows how to build a better economy, how to restore hope and create opportunities. It's an easy decision."
Twenty-six delegates will be nominated during the convention on Saturday, joining the 50 that will represent South Carolina during the national convention in July.