Feb 6 (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley suffered an embarrassing defeat in Nevada’s primary on Tuesday, finishing behind ballots marked “none of these candidates” by supporters of Donald Trump, according to Edison Research. Haley, the last remaining rival to frontrunner Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, was the only major Republican candidate contesting the party’s Nevada primary on Tuesday. Trump was not on the ballot.
Joe Biden, meanwhile, secured another primary victory after his nearest challenger, Marianne Williamson, registered only in the low single digits. The AP called the results about two hours after polls closed on a soggy and subdued election day in Nevada.
Haley loses to none of the candidates in Nevada primary as Biden seals easy win
The “none of these candidates” option beat Nikki Haley in the state’s Republican presidential primary contest, the AP projected, an embarrassing result for the former UN ambassador who was the only major candidate on the ballot.
The race is essentially meaningless in the nominating process, however, as the big event for Republicans is on Thursday, when the GOP will hold caucuses with Donald Trump on the ballot that will determine the actual delegates sent to the Republican national convention.
Haley did not make much of an effort to campaign in Nevada, saying that the process was “rigged” for Trump.
Perhaps due to voters’ confusion about the dual elections, and the availability of early and mail-in voting options the primaries, in-person turnout on Tuesday appeared low.
About 15,700 people voted at the polls, according to the secretary of state’s office, while about 151,000 voted early. There was no clear barometer to measure turnout, however, given that these were Nevada’s first presidential primaries after decades of holding caucuses. State legislators voted in 2021 to change how voters choose their presidential candidates, arguing that the primary format was more accessible.
The rival Republican caucus on Thursday is being run by the Trump-friendly state party, and with only Trump on that ballot, he is almost certainly guaranteed victory and all of the state’s 26 delegates to the Republican National Convention in July, when the party formally nominates its candidate.
Voters can participate in both the Republican primary on Tuesday and the Republican caucus on Thursday.
Joe Lombardo, Nevada’s Republican governor and a Trump supporter, had said he would vote “none of these candidates” on Tuesday and caucus for Trump on Thursday.
The competing Republican ballots are the result of a conflict between the state Republican Party – run by Trump allies – and a 2021 state law that mandates a primary must be held.
Presidential nominating caucuses are run by state political parties, not the state, and the Trump-friendly Nevada Republican Party decided to stick with a caucus on Feb. 8. In a visit to Nevada last week, Trump urged voters to ignore Tuesday’s primary and only vote in Thursday’s caucus.
Haley has vowed to stay in the Republican nominating race and on to a potential last stand in her home state of South Carolina on Feb. 24, but she has no clear path to the nomination. She trails Trump badly in South Carolina, according to opinion polls.
Biden campaigned in Nevada on Sunday and Monday. After his victory, he immediately set his sights on Trump, saying in a statement: “Donald Trump is trying to divide us, not unite us; drag us back to the past, not lead us to the future.”
Biden appeared on the ballot along with self-help author Marianne Williamson and other lesser-known Democratic challengers. U.S. Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota missed the filing deadline and won’t appear on the ballot.
Despite Tuesday’s results in Nevada having little impact on the nominating contests, the state will be a hotly contested battleground because its population can swing to either party and play a significant role in November’s presidential election.