It’s round two for the Republicans in Nevada, as Trump aims for a sweep in the dueling presidential nominating contests
Although he wasn’t on the ballot, Donald Trump emerged victorious in Nevada’s state-run Republican presidential primary.
On Thursday, the former president’s name will appear in the Nevada GOP’s caucuses, where he is anticipated to secure a clear win.
Despite Trump’s absence from the primary ballot, it did not pave the way for Nikki Haley, the former president’s last significant rival for the 2024 Republican nomination, to find a path to victory.
The former two-term South Carolina governor, who subsequently served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration, suffered a defeat on Tuesday to a “none of these candidates” option by a margin of more than two to one in a primary where no GOP convention delegates were at stake.
Voters participating in the primary were unable to write in Trump’s name, but they had the option to vote for “none of these candidates.” According to interviews conducted by Fox News outside polling stations, Trump supporters indicated that they cast their votes in this manner.
Although Trump, the leading contender for the 2024 GOP nomination as he embarks on his third consecutive White House bid, was not included on the primary ballot, he will be the sole major candidate listed in Thursday’s caucuses, where 26 delegates are at stake.
The confusion regarding the two competing contests dates back to 2021 when Democrats, who then held both Nevada’s governor’s office and the legislature, passed a law altering the presidential nominating contest from traditional caucuses to a state-run primary.
The Nevada GOP raised objections, but their legal attempt last year to halt the primary was dismissed. Interestingly, the judge in the case permitted the state Republicans to conduct their caucuses. While no delegates will be at stake in the Republican primary, all 26 delegates will be up for grabs in the GOP caucuses.
The state GOP decided that candidates who appeared on the state-run primary ballot would be ineligible to participate in the caucuses.
Haley and several other Republican presidential candidates who have since withdrawn from the race perceived the Nevada GOP as excessively aligned with Trump and opted to forgo the caucuses, which they believed were skewed in favor of the former president.
Nevada GOP chair Michael McDonald, along with both of the state’s members of the Republican National Committee, are backing Trump.
Haley criticized the situation on Wednesday, stating, “Nevada – it’s such a scam. They were supposed to have a primary. Trump rigged it so the GOP chairman – who’s been indicted – would go and create a caucus.”
“We knew that it was rigged from the start,” Haley asserted in an interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles while campaigning in southern California.
In response, McDonald asserted that Haley “is not a genuine, serious candidate.”
“The reality is she didn’t participate. She didn’t campaign in Nevada, and neither did ‘none of the above,’ yet ‘none of the above’ emerged victorious,” stated the Nevada GOP chair to Fox News Digital.
While GOP presidential candidates were required to select either the caucus or primary ballot, registered Republicans in Nevada have the option to vote in both contests.
Trump’s campaign has been actively informing supporters in Nevada that if they wish to vote for the former president, they must participate in the caucuses.
“Your primary vote doesn’t mean anything. It’s your caucus vote,” Trump declared at a rally in Las Vegas late last month. “So in your state, you have both the primary and you have a caucus. Don’t worry about the primary, just do the caucus thing.”
Republican Governor Joe Lombardo, who backs Trump, stated to the Nevada Independent last month that he would vote for “none of these candidates” in the primary and would caucus for Trump in the state GOP’s contest on Thursday.
While her name appeared on the ballot, Haley disregarded the Nevada primary.
Haley did not campaign in Nevada before the primary and has not visited the state since speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership conference in late October.
“We made the decision months ago that we wouldn’t invest any time or resources in Nevada, because it wasn’t worth it. So, we didn’t even consider Nevada. It wasn’t on our radar,” Haley emphasized on Wednesday.
As the vote count persisted on Tuesday night, the former president turned to his Truth Social network to criticize Haley.
“A tough night for Nikki Haley. Losing by nearly 30 points in Nevada to ‘None of These Candidates.’ Just watch, she’ll soon declare Victory!” he asserted.
Haley, looking forward, reiterated that “our attention is on South Carolina, Michigan, and Super Tuesday.”
South Carolina is next in line on the GOP presidential nominating calendar, with a primary scheduled for February 24th. Three days later, Michigan will hold its primary. Following these, fifteen states, including the significant states of California and Texas, will hold contests on Super Tuesday.
Haley’s campaign stops on Wednesday in California marked her first visit to any of the Super Tuesday states. This shift to the Golden State appears to be a strategic move for Haley as she pushes back against calls from some Republicans to withdraw from the race and abandon her uphill battle for the nomination.
The trip also comprised a series of fundraisers. As Fox News Digital initially reported on Wednesday, Haley collected $1.7 million in fundraising during her two days in California.
Meanwhile, Trump is set to return to Las Vegas on Thursday for a caucus celebration.
This week’s contests serve as a precursor for Nevada, which, as a pivotal battleground state in the general election, will witness a significant amount of campaign activity throughout the summer and autumn.