Nikki Haley on Sunday won the Republican presidential primary in Washington DC, marking her first victory as she fights to remain relevant in her nomination race against former US President Donald Trump. The victory is symbolic in nature as Washington is a solidly Democratic town with a small number of registered Republicans. There are just 22,000 registered Republicans in Washington DC, according to CNN.
The victory comes just ahead of a decisive Super Tuesday in which 15 states and one territory will vote in the nominating process.
In Washington, Haley won 63% of the votes in a primary held in just one place – a downtown hotel, according to Politico, which quoted Washington party officials. In the 2020 election against Trump, then candidate Joe Biden won 92 percent of the votes in Washington.
“It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos,” the Haley campaign said after the win. Donald Trump’s campaign team in a statement said Haley’s win is a “statement on Nikki Haley Being Crowned Queen of The Swamp”.
“Tonight’s results in Washington DC reaffirm the object of President Trump’s campaign —- he will drain the swamp and put America first,” the statement further added.
Super Tuesday, a pivotal moment in the presidential race, looms on the horizon and for Donald Trump, it is a significant step towards clinching the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency. Having already secured victories in all early state primaries, Trump stands on the verge of consolidating his position as the frontrunner.
Super Tuesday also presents Haley with her final opportunity to disrupt Trump’s steady march towards re-emerging as the Republican Party’s standard-bearer.
The Republican and Democratic nominating contests that play out across the United States every four years serve to elect delegates to the national conventions, where they formally select their party’s presidential nominee.
Most of the 15 states holding primaries on “Super Tuesday” award them on a winner-takes-all basis, meaning a strong second place showing can result in zero delegates for that candidate.
It’s a system that tends to favor front-runners, and for Nikki Haley, the sole remaining challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, it’s one that has dulled her already razor thin chances.
Haley won 40 percent of the vote in her home state of South Carolina, but received only three delegates, while Trump added 47 to his seemingly unassailable tally.
On Sunday night Haley with her first primary win, in Washington, DC, gained 19 delegates.
