(BrightPress.org) – Nikki Haley won the Washington D.C. Republican primary on Sunday, March 3rd, marking her first win in the 2024 campaign. Haley beat Donald Trump in D.C. by gaining 62.9% of the vote and winning all 19 delegates at stake. Despite a string of losses to Donald Trump, Haley promised to remain in the race until at least Super Tuesday because she believes voters deserve an alternative to Donald Trump. However, on Wednesday, March 6th, Gov. Haley opted to drop out of the presidential race.
Washington D.C. is profoundly Democratic with only about 23,000 registered Republicans. Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokesperson for Haley, said in a statement that it is not surprising the Washington Republicans are steering away from Donald Trump and his “chaos”. Although she is campaigning as a conservative, Haley’s supporters tend to be more moderate and independent-leaning voters.
Perez-Cubas also noted that Nikki Haley made history by being the first woman to ever win a Republican primary election.
Haley’s odds of defeating Donald Trump and taking on the likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden, were slim at best before her withdrawal from the presidential race. Trump posted on Truth Social that he purposely avoided the D.C. vote, calling the area the “swamp” with few delegates and “no upside.” Opinion polls favored Trump to win almost all future nominating contests, and his Super Tuesday results are proving that to be accurate.
Tuesday, March 5th is the biggest election day in the presidential nominating process. Fifteen states and one U.S. territory participate with 874 delegates at stake.
During a rally in D.C. on Friday, March 1st, Haley criticized Trump for running up the federal deficit and argued that she believed she could deny Joe Biden a second term but Donald Trump could not. Some Republicans may see Haley’s D.C. win as negative since the city is seen by many party leaders as “crime infested” and run by “out-of-touch elites”.
The Democratic primary in Washington will be held in June.
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