Republican presidential candidate and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event at the Indigo Hall and Events venue on February 5, 2024 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
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NBC News predicted that former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley lost the Republican presidential primary in Nevada to “neither of these candidates.”
Haley was the only Republican candidate on the ballot Tuesday, but she was not the only candidate on the ballot. Nevada voters also had the option to vote for “neither of these candidates.” The votes were counted in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Former President Donald Trump was not on the ballot and no delegates will be awarded based on Tuesday’s results.
Behind the state’s primary-plus-caucus plan this year is a rift between Nevada’s Republican Party and the state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature.
It started in 2021 when lawmakers passed a new election law requiring the state to hold primary elections. The move was an attempt to deviate from the caucus format and allow more people to participate in the nominating contests.
But the Nevada Republican Party rejected the change, opting instead to hold its own caucuses and virtually ignore the primaries.
As a result, Republicans are going head-to-head in two different presidential elections this week in Nevada – with only the caucus winner being allocated the number of delegates they must raise for the 1,215 candidates needed to win the nomination.
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Trump is running virtually unopposed in the caucus because Haley chose to appear on the primary ballot instead. Candidates are only allowed to take part in one competition.
Betsy Ankney, campaign manager for Haley, downplayed the importance of this week’s Nevada contests. “We haven’t spent a dime or an ounce of energy on Nevada,” she said in a press briefing Monday morning.
She also criticized the Republican Party-run caucus system, which is more favorable to Trump – a candidate with a very loyal base – than it likely would be in a large, statewide primary. Especially in a primary where “None of these candidates” is an option on the ballot.
“We will not pay $55,000 to a Trump entity to participate in a process that is rigged for Trump,” Ankney said of the state Republican Party caucus.
“Nevada was and is not our focus. “I’m really not sure what the Trump team is up to out there, but they seem pretty excited,” she added.
The former president has long treated his primary opponents as a series of minor distractions on the road to an inevitable rematch with President Joe Biden.
Trump won the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire caucuses, and polls show him well ahead in South Carolina, where the GOP primary will be held later this month.
Haley is Trump’s last real Republican challenger. She has vowed to continue campaigning even if she comes second in South Carolina, her home state where she once served as governor.
As her campaign tightens, Haley’s campaign has stepped up its attacks on Trump, arguing he is the weaker choice to face Biden in a general election. The campaign has scrapped ads criticizing Trump’s age and “awkward” temperament, while also calling him a chicken for refusing to agree to a debate.
Correction: An earlier version of this story included an NBC News Decision Desk projection that was later retracted.
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2024-02-07 05:23:12
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