Former president Donald Trump continues his victorious march toward the Republican presidential nomination. On Saturday, March 2, he won the Missouri caucuses and swept the number of delegates in another in Michigan, on a day in which the result of a vote in Idaho is also expected. Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the UN and her last great rival, continues looking for her first victory.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump comfortably won the caucuses in Michigan (USA) on Saturday, March 2, where the party is divided by internal struggles that some Republicans fear could damage their campaign in that key state for the November general elections.
The former US president also won the Missouri Republican caucus on Saturday, according to an Associated Press projection.
In both states, Trump defeated Nikki Haley, his only current rival for the Republican presidential nomination, bringing him ever closer to becoming his party's standard-bearer for the White House and a likely general election rematch with the president. Joe Biden.
With victories in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, the US Virgin Islands, South Carolina and now Michigan and Missouri under his belt, Trump is by far the favorite in the Republican race, while Haley continues to hold on thanks to the support of donors eager for an alternative to the former president.
The next event on the Republican calendar is Sunday, March 3, in the District of Columbia. And two days later, it will be Super Tuesday, when 15 states and one U.S. territory (American Samoa) will hold primaries in what will be the biggest voting day of the year outside of the November elections. It is estimated that Trump could secure the nomination days later, around March 12.
Michigan
For this election cycle, Michigan Republicans devised a hybrid nominating system, split between a primary and a caucus.
Trump won the Michigan primary in resounding fashion on Tuesday, February 27, securing 12 of the 16 delegates up for grabs. This Saturday he took the remaining 39 delegates.
More than 1,600 party members participated in the presidential caucus this Saturday in the city of Grand Rapids, in the west of the state.
There, Trump defeated Haley in all 13 districts that participated in the nominating caucuses, according to the state Republican Party. Overall, Trump won with nearly 98% support: 1,575 votes to just 36 for Haley.
Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, called it “an overwhelming and dominant victory.”
Michigan Republicans were forced to split their delegate allocation in two after Democrats, who control state government, They will locate Michigan among the first states with primaries, violating the rules of the national Republican Party.
Missouri
This year was the first test of the new system, which is run almost entirely by volunteers on the Republican side.
The caucuses were organized after Republican Governor Mike Parson will sign a law of 2022 which, among other things, canceled the presidential primaries scheduled for March 12.
The legislators they were unable to restore primaries despite calls to do so from state Republican and Democratic party leaders. Democrats will hold a party-run primary on March 23.
Idaho
Last year, Idaho lawmakers passed cost-cutting legislation aimed at moving all of the state's primaries to the same date in May. But the bill eliminated presidential primaries entirely.
The Republican-led Legislature considered holding a special session to reinstate the presidential primaries but failed to agree on a proposal in time, leaving both parties with caucuses as their only option.
The Democratic caucuses aren't until May 23.
The last Republican Party caucuses in Idaho were in 2012, when about 40,000 of the state's nearly 200,000 registered Republican voters showed up to select their preferred candidate.
With AP and Reuters
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