Why was the 2010 SC governor's race so close?

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Severeal reasons.

1. Haley's late controversies
2. Racism indeed (see Louisiana 2003, Jindall would have win four years earlier if he were white)
3. Sheheen was the best candidate Democrats could possibly run

Of course, we're talking about South Carolina in 2010, so Sheheen still lost. Under at least neutral circumstances he'll beat Haley.

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Going back further, here are the results for other Republicans elected in the last 40 years there.

1974: James Edwards - 50.88%
1986: Carroll Campbell -  51.02%
1994: Davis Beasley - 50.41%
2002: Mark Sanford - 52.85%
2010: Nikki Haley - 51.37%

Well, Campbell was reelected in a 69.5%-27.8% landslide in 1990 but, indeed, no Republican winning for the first time did surpass 53%

How did Bobby Jindal's first gubernatorial election go?

Runoff (Louisiana is a jungle primary state):

Blanco: 51.95%
Jindal: 48.05%