Nikki Haley, former South Carolina Governor, and U.N. Ambassador chalked up her first win of the 2024 primary season, beating former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.
Haley won the primary with almost 63% of the vote, according to the Associated Press call of the race on Sunday about 90 minutes after the polls closed. The results mean Haley will walk away with 19 delegates.
The primary Sunday had a lower turnout than in 2016. The total now stands at 43 for Haley and 244 for Trump.
Washington, D.C., was Haley’s possible best shot at achieving a victory, ending former President Trump’s undefeated streak in the primaries. Although Trump won the district in the 2020 primary, which was uncontested, he finished third behind Florida Senator Marco Rubio and former Ohio Governor Jon Kasich in the 2016 primary. The district heavily leans Democrat, with now-President Joe Biden winning 92% of the vote in Washington, D.C., in the 2020 election.
So far, Trump has made easy work of this year’s Republican primary, notching up victories in New Hampshire, Iowa, the Virgin Islands, Nevada, Michigan, and South Carolina.
The relatively easy streak of wins has strengthened the former president’s front-runner position in the race, with his campaign saying they have already started looking forward to the general election.
“Republican voters have delivered resounding wins for President Trump in every primary contest, and this race is over,” said a campaign spokesperson. “Our focus is now on Joe Biden and the general election.”
Donald Trump holds a commanding lead in delegates over Nikki Haley
Trump held a commanding lead before the Washington, D.C., primary with ten times the number of delegates as Nikki Haley before his first loss Sunday. The former president maintains his strong lead heading into the most crucial week on the primary calendar despite Haley winning 19 delegates with her D.C. victory.
The former governor of South Carolina is the only remaining contender in the field outside of Trump, vowing to stay in the race despite losing her home state.
Haley’s campaign looks to continue the momentum to Monday’s contest in North Dakota, where 29 delegates are available, and this week’s Super Tuesday, when voters in 15 states go to the polls to decide who will receive shares of the 865 total delegates. Haley has heavily invested in Super Tuesday. Just last week, Haley’s campaign announced an ad buy in several states totaling seven figures set to vote that day.
The number to lock down the Republican nomination is 1,215 delegates, meaning no candidate can become the candidate after this week’s primaries are concluded.
