UNITED STATES NEWS

Nikki Haley wins D.C. Republican primary, her first 2024 victory

Mar 3, 2024, 6:51 PM | Updated: 8:32 pm

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley poses for a selfie after speakin...

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley poses for a selfie after speaking at a campaign event in South Burlington, Vermont, Sunday, March 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nikki Haley has won the Republican primary in the District of Columbia, notching her first victory of the 2024 campaign.

Her victory Sunday at least temporarily halts Donald Trump’s sweep of the GOP voting contests, although the former president is likely to pick up several hundred more delegates in this week’s Super Tuesday races.

Despite her early losses, Haley has said she would remain in the race at least through those contests, although she has declined to name any primary she felt confident she would win. Following her loss in her home state of South Carolina, Haley remained adamant that voters in the places that followed deserved an alternative to Trump despite his dominance thus far in the campaign.

The Associated Press declared Haley the winner Sunday night after D.C. Republican Party officials released the results. She won all 19 delegates at stake.

“It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos,” Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement, noting that Haley became the first woman to win a Republican primary in history.

Washington is one of the most heavily Democratic jurisdictions in the nation, with only about 23,000 registered Republicans in the city. Democrat Joe Biden won the district in the 2020 general election with 92% of the vote.

Trump’s campaign issued a statement shortly after Haley’s victory sarcastically congratulating her on being named “Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that want to protect the failed status quo.”

Haley held a rally in the nation’s capital on Friday before heading back to North Carolina and a series of states holding Super Tuesday primaries. She joked with more than 100 supporters inside a hotel ballroom, “Who says there’s no Republicans in D.C., come on.”

“We’re trying to make sure that we touch every hand that we can and speak to every person,” Haley said.

As she gave her standard campaign speech, criticizing Trump for running up federal deficit, one rallygoer bellowed, “He cannot win a general election. It’s madness.” That prompted agreement from Haley, who argues that she can deny Biden a second term but Trump can’t.

While campaigning as an avowed conservative, Haley has tended to perform better among more moderate and independent-leaning voters.

Four in 10 Haley supporters in South Carolina’s GOP primary were self-described moderates, compared with 15% for Trump, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 2,400 voters taking part in the Republican primary in South Carolina, conducted for AP by NORC at the University of Chicago. On the other hand, 8 in 10 Trump supporters identified as conservatives, compared to about half of Haley’s backers.

Trump won an uncontested D.C. primary during his 2020 reelection bid but placed a distant third four years earlier behind Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Rubio’s win was one of only three in his unsuccessful 2016 bid. Other more centrist Republicans, including Mitt Romney and John McCain, won the city’s primaries in 2012 and 2008 on their way to winning the GOP nomination.

___

Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here.

United States News

Valentine's Day roses are unwrapped after being inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agr...

Associated Press

Roses are red, violets are blue, 940 million flowers are traveling (through Miami) to you

MIAMI (AP) — If any husbands or boyfriends mess up Valentine’s Day this week, it’s not because of a shortage of flowers. In the run up to Feb. 14, agricultural specialists at Miami International Airport have processed about 940 million stems of cut flowers, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Around 90% of the […]

7 hours ago

Maryland Department of Transportation employees use a backhoe to load a truck with salt at the Stat...

Associated Press

Virginia governor declares storm emergency as snow and ice bear down on mid-Atlantic states

A wintry mess was bearing down on mid-Atlantic states Tuesday with forecasts of significant snow and ice accumulations prompting warnings of potential power outages. The National Weather Service said travel would become treacherous Tuesday through early Wednesday in much of Virginia and West Virginia. Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday declared a state of […]

7 hours ago

FILE - Author Salman Rushdie poses for a portrait to promote his book "Knife: Meditations After an ...

Associated Press

Testimony in trial of man accused of trying to kill Salman Rushdie heads into 2nd day

Testimony is set to continue Tuesday in the trial of the man charged with stabbing famed author Salman Rushdie in a frenzied knife attack on a western New York stage. Jurors in the trial of Hadi Matar, 27, on Monday heard from staffers at the arts institution where Rushdie was set to give a speech […]

7 hours ago

FILE - Elon Musk speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Republican presidential nomin...

Associated Press

How Elon Musk’s crusade against government could benefit Tesla

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk has long railed against the U.S. government, saying a crushing number of federal investigations and safety programs have stymied Tesla, his electric car company, and its efforts to create fleets of robotaxis and other self-driving automobiles. Now, Musk’s close relationship with President Donald Trump means many of those federal headaches […]

7 hours ago

FILE - Linda McMahon speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate,...

Associated Press

Trump’s education chief comes from the boardroom, not the classroom. Backers say that’s her strength

WASHINGTON (AP) — Linda McMahon once described herself as an outsider stepping into the world of education, a business leader with an “inquiring mind” who would challenge the status quo and demand more for students. That was 15 years ago, when McMahon was beginning a stint on the Connecticut Board of Education. But her backers […]

7 hours ago

Students interact in a fourth grade classroom at William Jefferson Clinton Elementary in Compton, C...

Associated Press

America’s kids are still behind in reading and math. These schools are defying the trend

COMPTON, Calif. (AP) — Math is the subject sixth grader Harmoni Knight finds hardest, but that’s changing. In-class tutors and “data chats” at her middle school in Compton, California, have made a dramatic difference, the 11-year-old said. She proudly pulled up a performance tracker at a tutoring session last week, displaying a column of perfect […]

7 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Fiesta Bowl Foundation

Join us for the 52nd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade

The 52nd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade presented by Lerner & Rowe returns on Saturday, December 28, at 10 a.m.

...

Sanderson Ford

Sanderson Ford’s Operation Santa Claus: Spreading holiday cheer through pickleball

Phoenix, AZ – Sanderson Ford, a staple in the Arizona community, is once again gearing up for its annual Operation Santa Claus charity drive.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Why a Heating Tune-Up is Essential Before Winter

PHOENIX, AZ — With cooler weather on the horizon, making sure your heating system is prepped and ready can make all the difference in staying comfortable this winter.

Nikki Haley wins D.C. Republican primary, her first 2024 victory