WASHINGTON (AP) – Nikki Haley has won the District of Columbia's Republican primary, marking her first victory in the 2024 campaign.
Her victory on Sunday will thwart Donald Trump's support, at least temporarily Dominates Republican voting battlesBut the former president could gather hundreds more delegates. This week's Super Tuesday races.
Despite losing early, Haley said: Stay in the race at least through those contests, she did not name the primary contestant, but was confident she would win.Continue Loss in her home state of South CarolinaDespite Trump's dominance in previous races, Haley remained adamant that subsequent voters are qualified to replace Trump.
The Associated Press declared Haley the winner Sunday night after D.C. Republican officials announced the results. She won all 19 contested delegates.
Haley's press secretary, Olivia Perez-Cubas, said in a statement that Haley became the first woman in history to win a Republican primary, saying, “The Republican party closest to the dysfunction in Washington is Donald Trump. It's no surprise that they reject him and all of his confusion.”
Washington is one of the most Democratic areas in the nation, with only about 23,000 registered Republicans in the city. In the 2020 general election, Democrat Joe Biden won the district with 92% of the vote.
Trump's campaign issued a statement shortly after Haley's victory, wryly congratulating her on being chosen as “Queen of the Swamp” by lobbyists and DC insiders seeking to protect the broken status quo.
Haley held a rally in the nation's capital on Friday before returning to North Carolina and a series of states hosting Super Tuesday primaries. “Who's to say there aren't any Republicans in Washington, D.C.? Come on,” she joked to more than 100 supporters in a hotel ballroom.
“We try to touch everyone and talk to everyone as much as we can,” Haley said.
As she delivered her usual campaign speech criticizing President Trump for ballooning the federal deficit, one rallygoer shouted: That's madness. Haley agreed, arguing that while she could deny Biden a second term, she could not deny Trump re-election.
Although Haley has campaigned as an avowed conservative, she has tended to perform well among moderate and independent-minded voters.
Four in 10 Haley supporters in the South Carolina Republican primary identified themselves as moderates, compared to 15% for Trump. AP voting cast, a survey of more than 2,400 voters in South Carolina's Republican primary conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for The Associated Press. Meanwhile, eight in 10 Trump supporters identify as conservative, compared to about half of Haley's supporters.
Trump won an uncontested D.C. primary for re-election in 2020, but he finished a distant third behind Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich four years ago. was attached. Mr. Rubio's victory was one of only three in his unsuccessful 2016 bid. More centrist Republicans such as Mitt Romney and John McCain won the city's primaries in 2012 and 2008 and are seeking the Republican nomination.
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Kinard reported from Columbia, South Carolina.