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.