Haley was outvoted in the Nevada primaries by “none of these candidates,” with no Trump on the ballot
Nikki Haley was outvoted in Nevada's Republican presidential primary on Tuesday by the “None of these candidates” option on the ballot, according to The Associated Press, an embarrassment in a contest in which she faced no direct competition.
The primaries, which do not award delegates, appeared to be a foregone conclusion as former President Donald J. Trump chose not to participate. On Thursday, he will instead participate in party-led caucuses where all 26 of the state's delegates will be awarded, a choice by Nevada Republicans that complicated the process and made the primaries effectively irrelevant.
Ms. Haley skipped campaigning in Nevada altogether, choosing to spend her time in South Carolina, her home state and where the next primaries will take place, after Trump easily won the first two nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Ms. Haley is expected to hold a rally in California, a Super Tuesday state, on Wednesday.
Supporters of Mr. Trump in Nevada, including Governor Joe Lombardo, had advocated selecting “None of these candidates” on the first ballot as a protest vote against Ms. Haley. Republicans can then vote for Trump in the caucuses two days later, where he runs essentially unopposed after Ms. Haley, his last major rival, chose not to compete.
The fact that a “none of the above” option could overwhelm the enthusiasm of supporters of Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, is another blow to her slim chances of winning the nomination over Mr. Trump, which has a leading position. lead in polls. It also blunts any attempt by her to show momentum or at least score a symbolic victory.
Critics of Nevada's dual primary caucus system, including those in Ms. Haley's camp, have suggested that the Republican Party set it up to benefit Mr. Trump, which the party has denied. Michael McDonald, the state party chairman, was among the people charged in the bogus election scheme to overturn President Biden's 2020 election victory.
“We haven't spent a dime or an ounce of energy on Nevada,” Betsy Ankney, Ms. Haley's campaign manager, said Tuesday. “We decided early on that we were not going to pay $55,000 to a Trump entity to participate in a trial that was rigged for Trump.”
The confusing system was criticized by Republican Lombardo, who called it “unacceptable to voters” in an interview with a local news media outlet last year.
Nevada has traditionally held caucuses, but passed a law in 2021 that abolished them and switched to a primary, with mail-in ballots as an option in addition to in-person voting. The state's Republican Party decided to organize its own contest — an in-person caucus — and forced candidates to choose one race in which they wanted to participate.