Skip to content Skip to footer

Haley Loses to “None of the Above” Option in Nevada GOP Primary

Haley campaign officials insist that she intends to remain in the race through “South Carolina and beyond.”

Republican presidential candidate, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign rally at the Indigo Hall and Events venue on February 5, 2024, in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

GOP 2024 presidential contender Nikki Haley faced no major opposition earlier this week in the Nevada primaries, a race that awards no delegates because those are given in the Nevada caucuses.

Former President Donald Trump, who is running for president in 2024 for the third consecutive term, didn’t put his name in the race, but Haley did — possibly so she could look like a winner when she, not Trump, collected the most votes.

However, she ended up losing anyway — to the option of “none of these candidates.”

The Nevada primary gives voters the option to reject all of the candidates listed on the ballot. More GOP voters in the state chose that option than they did Haley, according to the final results.

Haley amassed just 30.4 percent of the votes that were recorded in the race, according to the primary results from The New York Times. The option of “none of these candidates” outperformed her by more than double that figure, receiving 63.4 percent of the vote.

The outcome is an embarrassing one for the candidate vying to become the GOP nominee for president as she struggles to hold her own against Trump, who nationwide polling shows is the preferred candidate among Republican voters.

Still, a Haley campaign team member said she intended to continue in the race, which next goes to South Carolina, her home state.

“We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump,” said campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas, explaining why the campaign didn’t participate in the caucuses. “We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond.”

That primary election could be equally embarrassing for Haley, as she trails Trump by double-digit numbers in polls in that state. Typically, a candidate’s home state is considered an easy win for them in primary elections, but Trump’s hold on the far right base appears impossible for Haley to break.

So why is Haley still running? She may be doing so because of the small possibility that the party will force Trump to drop out later down the road. If the U.S. Supreme Court affirms state actions disqualifying Trump, or if the former president is convicted in any of the four criminal cases he faces, his chances of winning against incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden would greatly diminish.

With more delegates than any other candidate besides Trump, Haley could become the nominee for the Republican Party in either of those scenarios, if party leaders believe Trump has little chance of winning — again, an incredibly small possibility.

Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn

Dear Truthout Community,

If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.

We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.

Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.

There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.

Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?

It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.

We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.

We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.

Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment. We are presently looking for 432 new monthly donors in the next 7 days.

We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.

With love, rage, and solidarity,

Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy