Nikki Haley won the District of Columbia Republican primary, her first victory of the 2024 campaign.
Her victory on Sunday halted at least temporarily Donald Trump’s sweep of the Republican down-ballot race, although the former president could win hundreds of delegates in this week’s Super Tuesday contests.
Despite her early losses, Haley said she would at least stay in the race in those races, though she declined to name any primaries she was confident of winning. After last week’s loss in her home state of South Carolina, Haley remained adamant that voters in subsequent districts deserve an alternative to Trump despite his dominance of the campaign so far.
The Associated Press declared Haley the winner Sunday night after Republican officials in Washington announced the results. She won all 19 delegate seats.
Washington is one of the most Democratic jurisdictions in the country, with only about 23,000 registered Republicans. Democrat Joe Biden won the district with 92% of the vote in the 2020 election.
Shortly after Haley’s victory, Trump issued a statement sarcastically congratulating her on being named “Queen of the Swamp” by lobbyists and Washington, D.C. insiders who want to protect a failed status quo.
Haley held a rally in the nation’s capital on Friday before returning to North Carolina and a string of states holding Super Tuesday primaries. “Who says there are no Republicans in Washington, D.C., come on,” she joked to more than 100 supporters in a hotel ballroom.
“We’re trying to make sure we touch every hand and talk to every person we can,” Haley said.
As she delivered a standard campaign speech criticizing Trump for increasing the federal deficit, a rallygoer roared: “He can’t win the election. This is crazy.” This prompted Haley to agree that she believed she could deny Biden a second term, But Trump can’t.
While Haley ran as an avowed conservative, she tended to perform better among more moderate and independent-leaning voters.
AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 2,400 voters in the South Carolina Republican primary conducted by NORC for The Associated Press, found that every 10 Haley Four of his supporters describe themselves as moderates, compared with 15% of Trump’s supporters at the University of Chicago. On the other hand, eight in 10 Trump supporters identify as conservative, compared with about half of Haley’s supporters.
Trump won an uncontested D.C. primary during his 2020 reelection bid, but four years ago he trailed far behind Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Ohio Gov. John Casey Odd, ranked third. Rubio’s victory was one of only three in his unsuccessful 2016 campaign. Other more centrist Republicans, including Mitt Romney and John McCain, won the city’s primaries in 2012 and 2008, en route to the Republican nomination.
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
