Nikki Haley defeated Donald Trump for the first time in the Washington, DC Republican primary on Sunday night, giving her what could be her only victory heading into Super Tuesday.
The D.C. Republican Party reported that Haley won 62 percent compared to Trump’s 33 percent with only 2,035 voters participating. That makes Haley the first Republican woman to win a primary in US history.
The result in DC comes a day after Trump’s victory in Republican primaries in Idaho, Michigan and Missouri on Saturday, as he inches closer to a rematch with Biden in November.
His victory in urban, Democratic-run D.C. shakes Trump’s stronghold in nearly every facet of the Republican Party, but is not expected to have a massive impact nationally.
Trump and Haley were vying for the district’s coveted 19 Republican delegates, out of a total of 2,429 at the Republican National Convention in July, in the race that went down to the wire. Now that Super Tuesday arrives, Trump has 244 delegates to Haley’s 43 and 1,215 are needed for the Republican nomination.
DC was seen as Haley’s best chance to beat Trump in any primary race, as the former president is expected to sweep all 15 states next Super Tuesday.
In 2016, Trump finished with just 14 percent in a distant third place in the D.C. Republican primary, behind Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. And although he won in 2020 in an uncontested race, only about 2,800 Republicans in total voted.
The Trump campaign is indicating that the race in DC is not that important since 15 states and one territory will vote on Super Tuesday.
The former South Carolina governor made a stop at the Madison Hotel on Friday afternoon after polls opened to ask the district’s few Republicans to back her against Trump.
Thousands of voters in 15 states will go to the polls on what has been known since the 1970s as ‘Super Tuesday.’
The few Republicans who reside in the nation’s capital were able to cast their votes during the party’s closed primary at one location, the Madison Hotel, from Friday to Sunday.
The Trump campaign was reportedly keeping an eye on whether D.C. lobbyists showed up to the polls, threatening to be locked out of a Trump-led White House in the future if they didn’t vote for him in the primary.
Trump did not visit DC for one of his signature political rallies and has repeatedly criticized the district for being so left-wing. He has called the country’s capital a ‘rat and graffiti infested shithole’.
However, the former South Carolina governor made a stop at the Madison Hotel on Friday after polls opened to rally the district’s roughly 23,000 registered Republicans to back her against Trump.
She made a joke at the top, joking, “Who says there aren’t any Republicans in DC!” drawing laughter from the crowd of Republican voters who live in a predominantly Democratic district.
The 2024 hopeful reviewed her speech criticizing the inefficiency of Congress, which had good results in the DC-based group, and the failures of Biden and Trump on the economy and immigration.
Haley urged voters to “make noise” and gather friends and family to “send a message” in the primary that “we have to go in a new direction.”
“I can’t believe this is the only place you can vote,” he joked, laughing among the approximately 150 people gathered in a small space inside the hotel.
“So you can’t leave until you vote,” he joked.
‘This is the time when we need to take a new direction with a new generation, a leader who can work eight years, day and night. No negativity, no drama, no vendettas, just harsh results for the American people. Is the time.’
Republican voters in the crowd Friday said they are fed up with Trump and want Haley to restore a sense of dignity to the office of president.
They “booed” loudly whenever she mentioned Trump and bristled at the former president’s attacks on veterans and his political rivals.
DC voter Dan Schubert told DailyMail.com he voted for Nikki because America needs a “new face” in the White House after years of “chaos” by Trump and Biden.
“Now we have an alternative to have a bright future with an intelligent and experienced candidate who will take our country in a bright new direction,” he added.
2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is in Washington, DC, today to try to woo the district’s few Republican voters in that nation’s capital.
Dan said the “energy in the room” during her remarks shows there is momentum for her and she has a “tremendous chance to win this weekend.”
“I think if he wins the District of Columbia, I think Super Tuesday will be a little different,” he added.
National security was an especially important issue for the assembled voters, who cited it as their top concern.
Another DC voter, Laura, told DailyMail.com that Haley is efficient on the issue.
“A big part of the president’s job is foreign relations,” he said. “And I think (Haley) would do a better job than any of the other candidates who are still in the race.”
He also said it’s time for a “pro-life president” in the White House.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign was indicating that the race in DC is not that important since 15 states and one territory will vote on Super Tuesday, next March 5.
There are 874 delegates at stake (36 percent) of all delegates to this summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“Republican voters have achieved resounding victories for President Trump in every primary election and this race is over,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said.
“Our focus now is on Joe Biden and the general election.”
A Saturday NY Times/Siena survey found that Trump leads Haley by 55 points in the race for the Republican nomination heading into Super Tuesday.
Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are the three remaining in the 2024 race
Haley’s campaign has been urging voters in the district to come to the hotel.
Haley’s campaign isn’t losing momentum: She also revealed early Friday that her campaign raised $12 million in February alone despite losing every primary election so far.
The former South Carolina governor has pledged to stay in the race at least until Super Tuesday.
But his campaign isn’t losing momentum: He also revealed early Friday that his campaign raised $12 million in February alone despite losing every primary election so far.