Dhe candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Nikki Haley, suffered a serious defeat in the primary election in Nevada – even though she was the only well-known candidate on the ballot. As the Associated Press (AP) news agency reported, Haley only received around 30 percent of the votes with a count of around 83 percent. The option “None of the candidates” was more than 60 percent. The pressure on Haley to end her candidacy is growing significantly again.
However, the primary election on Tuesday was only symbolic. The state Republican Party had decided that it would not join the state-organized primary and would instead hold a caucus on Thursday. This only counts for the allocation of delegate votes. The party had also stipulated that candidates could not stand for election at both events. Haley chose the primary, Donald Trump, the favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, chose the caucus.
Haley's campaign team had already tried to do damage control before the primary election and described it as rigged for Trump due to the party's rules. She also hadn't spent any money on canvassing in the state and also saved herself the $55,000 fee to attend the caucus. They said they remain focused on the South Carolina primary in two weeks. Haley is from the state and served as governor there.
In Nevada, well-known Trump supporters urged voters to vote for “none of the candidates” to make it clear to Haley that she had no chance of winning her party's nomination. On election night, Donald Trump also took shots at his only remaining competitor on his social media service Truth Social. “A bad night for Nikki Haley. She lost in Nevada by almost thirty percentage points to 'none of these candidates'. Look, soon she will be talking about a victory,” he wrote, alluding to the New Hampshire primary, where Haley gave a kind of victory speech despite losing to Trump.
For Trump, on the other hand, only the result on Thursday counts. He has urged his supporters to go to the caucus. Since he has no serious opponent, it is expected that he will be able to collect all of the delegate votes from the “Silver State”.
President Joe Biden achieved a clear success among the Democrats, who also held their primary election in Nevada on Tuesday. After counting a good 86 percent of the votes, Biden has almost 90 percent, according to the AP. “I want to thank the voters of Nevada for putting me and Kamala Harris on the path to the White House four years ago, and for taking another step with us on that same path tonight,” said a statement Biden.