Nikki Haley notches first win in bid for GOP presidential nomination, upsets Trump in DC primary

WASHINGTON – Nikki Haley defeated Donald Trump in Sunday’s Republican primary in Washington, D.C., her first win in what remains an uphill battle to somehow overtake the former president for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, claimed all 19 convention delegates and carried more than 62% of the vote among the small pool of DC Republicans who participated in the three-day primary. She now takes her challenge to Trump to more than a dozen primaries being held on “Super Tuesday” — Trump is favored to win those contests, but the surprising result in Washington could augur better days for her campaign.

“Let’s do it,” Haley said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “Thank you, DC! We fight for every inch.”

Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said: “It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos.” She added that the victory “makes Nikki Haley the first woman to win a Republican primary in U.S. history.”

On his Truth Social website, Trump said he “purposely stayed away from the D.C. Vote because it is the ‘Swamp,'” and inconsequential. “The really big numbers will come on Super Tuesday,” Trump said.

The Trump campaign earlier mocked Haley’s victory in Washington, D.C., which they again called a “swamp” of political vice.

“While Nikki has been soundly rejected throughout the rest of America, she was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that want to protect the failed status quo,” said a statement from Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt, adding: “The swamp has claimed their queen.”

Approaching Super Tuesday

The Republican footprint in Washington, D.C., is very small. Just a little more than 2,000 people voted in the GOP primary in a city with a population of nearly 680,000.

Trump had defeated Haley in previous contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and her home state of South Carolina.

Republican strategist Doug Heye said Trump backers can complain about “the swamp” all they want, “but a whole lot of people who worked for Trump – who know him and his administration best – rejected him.”

D.C. Republicans send only 19 of 2,429 delegates to their national convention from July 15 to 18 in Milwaukee. 

Trump began the day with 244 delegates to Haley’s 24, according to the Associated Press. The former president needs 1,215 delegates to clinch the nomination, and 845 delegates will be available on Super Tuesday.

While the Republican presence in Washington, D.C., is very small, the caucuses drew some attention because of alleged threats by the Trump campaign to a particular group of voters: Lobbyists.

Politico reported that Trump officials warned lobbyists that “if they don’t vote in this Sunday’s primary, they won’t get access should the former president end up back in the White House.”

Haley, whose donors have been threatened with ostracism by the Trump machine, protested the heavy-handed tactics a day before her victory in the nation’s capital.

This election “is about candidates wanting people to come into their fold, not threatening them, not pushing them out of their club,” Haley told reporters Saturday. “Is that what we want as a leader? The majority of these people will tell you no, they’re done with that.”

Nikki Haley’s defeats

Most recently, Trump won Michigan’s Republican primary, with Haley losing yet another 2024 contest. Trump’s victory comes after Haley lost in her home state, South Carolina. However, she vowed to continue the fight.

The Haley campaign characterised the Michigan loss as a bad sign for Trump. It noted that about one-third of Republican primary voters cast ballots for someone other than the former president.

“Let this serve as another warning sign that what has happened in Michigan will continue to play out across the country,” Haley campaign national spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement, according to NBC News. “So long as Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket, Republicans will keep losing to the socialist left. Our children deserve better.”

Trump beat Haley in Iowa and New Hampshire, and in Nevada too, where Haley did not appear on the ballot. She was also beaten by Trump in the US Virgin Islands, before being defeated in South Carolina.

Before the Michigan winner was announced, Haley went on to defend her decision to stay in the race. “We’ve only seen a handful of states vote. I mean, look, I’ve said this before as much as the media wants to jump ahead, we’re taking this one state, one day at a time,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash.

With Thanks Reference to: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/03/nikki-haley-donald-trump-washington-dc-primary/72830577007/ and https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/nikki-haley-wins-republican-primary-in-washington-dc-in-first-victory-over-donald-trump-101709523265962.html