Former President Donald Trump earned all of Nevada’s delegates Thursday when Nikki Haley did not appear on the state’s Republican caucus ballot, adding to her defeat in the Nevada Republican primary by the “None of These Candidates” option.
Nevada has a unique nomination process that offers candidates two opportunities to show up on the Silver State’s ballot lines: a primary and a caucus. State rules prevent a candidate on the primary ballot from appearing on the caucus ballot and vice versa. Haley chose to run in the primary, so she was ineligible for the caucus.
“You need leadership, and this country does not have leadership. It’s lost its way,” Trump said during his victory speech, per NewsNation.
Haley’s campaign claimed that the former governor of South Carolina intentionally ignored the state as it became clear that Republican voters would not be receptive to anyone but Trump.
“In terms of Nevada, we have not spent a dime nor an ounce of energy on Nevada,” Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney said, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. “So Nevada is not and has never been our focus.”
CNN reported that Trump had won 99.1% of the vote in Nevada’s caucus, with approximately 78% of the votes counted at the time.
As of February 9, 86% of the primary votes had been counted, and Haley’s loss worsened, per the Associated Press. “None of These Candidates” now holds 63.4% of the votes over Haley’s 30.4%.
The next Republican primary will be on February 24 in South Carolina. Despite maintaining popularity in the state, Haley is expected to lose. Trump has thus far won all of the Republican primaries and became the first Republican non-incumbent candidate in history to take both Iowa and New Hampshire, according to Axios.
Any path for Haley to overcome Trump’s commanding delegate lead will be essentially quashed should she be unable to dramatically outperform expectations in the Palmetto State. South Carolina accounts for 50 delegates and is a “winner takes all” state.
Trump has now amassed 63 delegates with his Nevada victory and a lesser-known win in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which added nine more to his count. Haley has just 17 delegates from proportional primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire. The first candidate to earn an estimated 1,215 delegate votes will receive the Republican nomination.
