Trump wins twice in Nevada in the race for the Republican presidential nomination

LAS VEGAS – It was by no means unsure, and now it is official.

Former President Donald Trump is projected to win Nevada’s Republican presidential caucus, in accordance with the Related Press.

The decision on Thursday night time got here rapidly after caucus precincts from throughout the Silver State started reporting outcomes.

The previous president, who’s the commanding front-runner for the 2024 nomination as he bids a 3rd straight time for the White Home, was the one main candidate on the poll in a caucus run by the Nevada GOP. And he grabbed all 26 delegates to this summer season’s nominating conference had been at stake within the caucus.

HALEY CHARGES NEVADA GOP CAUCUS ‘RIGGED’ FOR TRUMP

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump motions earlier than talking at a marketing campaign occasion Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Picture/John Locher) (AP Picture/John Loche)

Trump’s win in Nevada got here hours after he grabbed roughly three-quarters of the vote for a landside victory in a presidential caucus run the the U.S. Virgin Islands GOP.

The previous president additionally got here up a winner on Tuesday, in Nevada’s state-run Republican presidential major, although he wasn’t on the poll.

Trump’s absence from the first poll wasn’t sufficient to supply a path to victory for Nikki Haley – the previous president’s final remaining main rival for the 2024 Republican nomination.

The previous two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador within the Trump administration misplaced on Tuesday to a “none of those candidates” choice by a greater than two-to-one margin in a major the place no GOP conference delegates had been at stake.

Voters casting ballots within the major could not write in Trump’s title, however they might vote for “none of those candidates.” And Trump supporters Fox Information interviewed exterior of polling stations stated that’s how they voted.

The confusion over having two competing contests dates to 2021, when Democrats, who on the time managed each Nevada’s governor’s workplace and the legislature, handed a legislation altering the presidential nominating contest from long-held caucuses to a state-run major. 

WHAT NIKKI HALEY TOLD FOX DIGITAL ABOUT WHAT SHE NEEDS TO DO TO KEEP RUNNING

The Nevada GOP objected, however final yr their authorized bid to cease the first from going ahead was rejected. In a twist, the choose within the case allowed the state Republicans to carry their very own caucuses. No delegates might be at stake within the Republican major, whereas all 26 might be up for grabs within the GOP caucus.

The state GOP dominated that candidates who put their title on the state-run major poll couldn’t participate within the caucuses. 

Republican voters wait in line to enter a GOP presidential caucus web site at Lois & Jerry Tarkaninan Center College in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 8, 2024 (Fox Information – Monica Oroz )

Haley and a number of the different now-departed Republican presidential candidates seen the Nevada GOP as too loyal to Trump and determined to skip a caucus they believed was tipped in favor of the previous president.

Nevada GOP chair Michael McDonald and each of the state’s members of the Republican Nationwide Committee are supporting Trump.

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Haley on Wednesday charged that “Nevada – it’s such a rip-off. They had been purported to have a major. Trump rigged it so the GOP chairman – who’s been indicted – would go and create a caucus.”

“We knew that it was rigged from the beginning,” Haley argued in separate interviews with Fox Information Digital and with FOX 11 Los Angeles whereas campaigning in southern California.

McDonald, responding, claimed that Haley “just isn’t an actual critical candidate.”

“The very fact of the matter is she didn’t present up. She didn’t marketing campaign in Nevada and neither did ‘not one of the above’ and ‘not one of the above’ received,” the Nevada GOP chair instructed Fox Information Digital.

Whereas the GOP presidential candidates had to decide on both the caucus or major poll, registered Republicans in Nevada can vote in each contests.

Trump’s marketing campaign labored to get the message out to supporters in Nevada that in the event that they wish to vote for the previous president, they should present up on the caucuses.

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“Your major vote doesn’t suggest something. It is your caucus vote,” Trump stated at a rally in Las Vegas late final month. “So in your state, you have got each the first and you’ve got a caucus. Don’t fret concerning the major, simply do the caucus factor.”

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who’s supporting Trump, instructed the Nevada Impartial final month that he would vote for “none of those candidates” within the major, and would caucus for Trump within the state GOP’s contest.

The “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada” signal on Feb. 6, 2024. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)

Whereas her title was on the poll, Haley ignored the Nevada major.

Haley did not marketing campaign in Nevada forward of the first and hasn’t been within the state since talking in late October on the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual management convention.

“We knew months in the past that we weren’t going to spend a day or a greenback in Nevada, as a result of it wasn’t value it. And so we didn’t even rely Nevada. That wasn’t something we had been taking a look at,” Haley emphasised on Wednesday.

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Because the vote rely continued on Tuesday night time, the previous president took to his Reality Social community to take purpose at Haley.

“A foul night time for Nikki Haley. Dropping by nearly 30 factors in Nevada to “None of These Candidates.” Watch, she’ll quickly declare Victory!” he argued.

Haley, wanting forward, reiterated that “our focus is on South Carolina, Michigan, Tremendous Tuesday.”

South Carolina’s subsequent up within the GOP presidential nominating calendar, with a major on Feb. 24. Michigan holds its major three days after the South Carolina. Fifteen states, together with the behemoths of California and Texas, maintain contests every week later, on Tremendous Tuesday.

Haley’s two marketing campaign stops on Wednesday in California had been her first to this point in any of the Tremendous Tuesday states. And the swing to the Golden State seems partly to be a marker for Haley as she pushes again in opposition to calls by some Republicans to drop out of the race and quit her uphill climb for the nomination. 

The journey additionally included a sequence of fundraisers. And as Fox Information Digital first reported on Wednesday, Haley hauled in $1.7 million in fundraising throughout her two days in California.

This week’s contests are simply an appetizer for Nevada, which as a key normal election battleground state will see loads of marketing campaign site visitors this summer season and autumn.

Get the newest updates from the 2024 marketing campaign path, unique interviews and extra at our Fox Information Digital election hub.