Donald Trump wins South Carolina Republican primary, NBC News projects

Former President Donald Trump has won the South Carolina Republican primary, defeating the state's former governor, Nikki Haley, NBC News projects.

South Carolina's polls closed at 7 p.m. ET, and Trump's victory was projected by networks and wire services within minutes.

"This was a lot sooner than we anticipated," Trump said at a party in Columbia, South Carolina following the results. "It's an early evening and fantastic one."

Trump's widely expected win further cements his status as the likely Republican nominee, though he still needs a total of 1,215 delegates to officially secure the nomination. 

Until then, Haley is determined to keep the GOP primary a two-person race. 

Haley has already pledged to stay on the campaign trail through Super Tuesday on March 5, even if she lost her home state's Saturday primary. 

"On Sunday I'll still be running for President. I'm not going anywhere," Haley said in Greenville, South Carolina on Tuesday.

Her campaign confirmed that she has the funding to keep her afloat after a record fundraising month in January.

"We have the resources to go the distance," a spokesperson for Haley's campaign told CNBC on Tuesday.

The former U.N. ambassador has yet to win a race this primary season, though she managed to pull out a slimmer loss against Trump in New Hampshire due to the state's wide population of undeclared voters.

Going into Saturday's primary, South Carolina was much less undecided.

Trump held a roughly 30-point lead against Haley, according to a February survey from USA Today and Suffolk University, disintegrating any hopes of her home-court advantage.

Trump also had the endorsements of local South Carolina GOP chapters, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace and