The day of the debate began with some unexpected twists when Rick Perry dropped out of the race, a recount of the Iowa caucus results found Rick Santorum as the winner — not Mitt Romney — and fresh accusations about Newt Gingrich surfaced from an ex-wife.

The debate was held in preparation for the upcoming primary, which will take place Saturday.

Moderator John King opened the debate questioning Gingrich about the scandal surrounding his ex-wife and marriage infidelities.

“I am astounded that CNN would use trash like that to open a presidential debate,” Gingrich said.

Despite Santorum’s last minute Iowa victory and Gingrich’s strong poll numbers, Romney did not alter his strategy during the debate. Romney continued to rail against Barack Obama’s economic policies and highlighted his private-sector experience to distinguish himself from the other candidates.

“We need to send to Washington someone who has not lived in Washington,” he said.

Santorum went on the offensive and challenged Romney on the Massachusetts government’s health care program and Gingrich’s “grandiose” opinion of himself, while the running gag of the night was Ron Paul’s lack of attention from the moderator.

After being skipped entirely on a question about abortion, the crowd yelled and demanded that Paul be allowed time, which he eventually was.

“Thank you!” Paul exclaimed after being ignored while the other three candidates debated health care.

The stakes for the primary Saturday are high. Every South Carolina primary winner for the GOP since 1980 has won the party’s nomination, said Ferrel Guillory, a UNC journalism professor and expert on Southern politics.

“If Romney wins this, it will make it extremely hard for him to not get the nomination. This is the last chance for Santorum and Gingrich,” said Brandon Hartness, state and national affairs chairman of UNC College Republicans.

Going into the debate Newt Gingrich lead the Republican field with 34 percent support, according to a poll released Thursday by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning polling firm based in Raleigh.

The poll shows that 20 percent of voters are not strongly committed to the candidate they support. Dustin Ingalls, assistant to the director at Public Policy Polling, said that a strong debate performance by a candidate could swing undecided voters and have a strong impact on the results of the primary.

“One thing we have been finding consistently is that a lot of voters have been paying attention to the debates. Part of the reason Gingrich has surged is that he had a good performance at the debate Monday,” Ingalls said.

Candidates will make their final pitches Friday before voters head to the polls in a state familiar with bruising political battles.

“South Carolina is a state that has grown accustomed to economic and cultural divisions being played out in politics,” Guillory said. “It has a history of slam-bang politics.”