‘None of these candidates’ wins Nevada
The presidential candidacy of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was never exactly soaring. She nonetheless hit a downdraft when a majority of voters in Tuesday’s nonbinding Nevada Republican primary chose “none of these candidates.”
Donald “91 Counts” Trump, the indicted former president and Haley’s only serious opponent, was not even on the ballot.
“None of these candidates,” Haley, a number of long shot challengers and two former GOP candidates — Mike Pence and Tim Scott — were on Nevada’s primary ballot.
Pence and Scott received a few thousand votes combined and some of the minor candidates garnered several hundred in total.
The Haley campaign did not respond directly to a question about their loss, instead releasing a statement where they called Thursday’s competing caucuses a “game rigged for Trump,” an allegation the Nevada Republican Party has repeatedly denied.
Even so, Haley was never eligible to win convention delegates on Tuesday.
The GOP primary carried little weight, because state Republicans opted to award their delegates through party-run caucuses, which Trump is expected to win Thursday. The party barred those participating in the primary, including Haley, from being eligible for the caucuses, which means Trump will face little competition.
Haley’s campaign dismissed the loss, stating it wasted no resources in Nevada.
“We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump,” Haley’s team said in a statement. “We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond.” The South Carolina primary is February 24.
What Haley hopes is to keep her candidacy aloft long enough for special prosecutorJack Smith to bring Trump to trial on four Jan. 6-related charges: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. How the U.S, Supreme Court decides two pending Trump-related cases could determine the fate of Trump’s candidacy even before he reaches the nominating convention.
Enough Republican voters have indicated they would not vote for Trump the Convict to all but sink his reelection chances. Haley would like to be the GOP’s fallback candidate in the wings.
Trump’s candidacy may not be dead yet, but that metaphor is.
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