The former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, who is running for the Republican Party's seat in the presidential elections with former president Donald Trump, suffered a new defeat in the party's primaries, this Tuesday (6), in the state of Nevada.
The candidate was the only one listed on the ballot, but she was not the only choice on the ballot, which allowed “none of the candidates” to vote. As a result, Nevada voters preferred to vote for the second option, making Haley the first presidential candidate from any party to lose a race to “neither option” since that option was introduced in the state in 1975.
With 86% of the votes counted this Wednesday morning (7), Trump's rival within the party had reached just 31% support.
The former president decided not to run in this Tuesday's caucuses (6) due to a change in the party's own electoral agenda in the state, which opted to hold a presidential convention this Thursday (7) to decide the delegates who will go run, thus disregarding the results of these primaries. In practice, the Nevada caucuses are the only races that count toward the Republican Party's presidential nomination.
Behind the state's caucus schedule this year is a disagreement between the Nevada Republican Party and its state legislature, which is controlled by Democrats.
In 2021, the state Legislature enacted a new election law requiring the state to hold primary elections. The change was an attempt to move away from the caucus process format and give more people a chance to participate in nomination contests.
But the Nevada Republican Party balked at the change and chose instead to hold its own conventions and ignore the official primaries.
As a result, Republicans are competing on two different presidential fronts in Nevada this week — although only the caucus winner will receive the delegates to compete for the 1,215 votes needed to win the nomination.
Trump is running virtually unopposed in the caucus, as Haley opted to appear in the primary election. Candidates can only participate in one vote.
Haley's campaign manager, Betsy Ankney, downplayed the candidate's defeat during a press conference, stating that “they didn't spend a dime or an ounce of energy in Nevada.”
She also criticized the GOP-run caucus system, which is more favorable to Trump — a candidate with a very loyal base — than a large state primary would likely be. Especially a primary where “none of these candidates” is an option on the ballot. “We are not going to pay a Trump entity $55,000 to participate in a process that is rigged for Trump,” Ankney said of the party’s state political convention.
Given Haley's choice not to participate in the caucus, the 26 delegates who will represent the State must choose the former president as the name of the party in the presidential election.
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