Nikki Haley is still racking up hundreds of thousands of votes, two weeks after dropping out of the Republican race. Does it matter for Donald Trump in November?
More than two weeks after suspending her campaign, former presidential candidate Nikki Haley is still raking in hundreds of thousands of Republican primaries as more states go to the polls.
When five states held their primaries on Tuesday in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio, Haley came away with more than half a million votes.
Last week, more than 240,000 voters cast ballots in the March 12 primary, a week after she withdrew from the presidential race.
In fact, it comes as the general election contest plays out: President Joe Biden versus former President Donald Trump.
Both candidates gained enough delegates to secure their parties’ nominations just over a week ago, but now that they’ve set their sights on the November election, Haley voters could play a big role, and it’s unclear where they will go.
Nikki Haley received more than half a million votes in the March 19 primary, despite withdrawing from the race two weeks ago
A poll worker prepares voting booths in Florida ahead of the March 19 primary. More than 155,000 Floridians voted for Haley in the Republican Party primaries. In Arizona, more than 108,000 people voted for Haley in the battleground state
On Tuesday, Haley received more than 108,000 votes in Arizona, or 18 percent, with more than 20 percent in the suburbs around Phoenix and Tucson.
The state is a crucial battleground that Trump lost by just over 10,000 votes in 2020.
Haley also received 161,000 votes in Ohio (14 percent) on Tuesday and another 155,000 in Florida, Trump’s home state.
Exit polls in Ohio showed eight in 10 Haley voters said they would not vote for Trump in November.
In Kansas, Haley received 16 percent of the vote, and did better in the suburbs around Kansas City and Wichita, areas that helped Democrats reject an abortion amendment in 2022.
While Trump had dominated overall, it is the margins in battleground states that will play a major role in the general election, and that is where Democrats have looked to Haley voters to help propel Biden to victory.
During the primary season, some Republican Haley voters have accused Haley voters on DailyMail.com of saying they will “hold their noses” and vote for Trump in November, but others have vowed they would not vote for him even though he is the Republican candidate, whatever he does. has since secured itself.
According to veteran Republican strategist Ed Rollins, it will be a dogfight between Trump and Biden all the way to November.
“If I were running the campaign, I wouldn’t panic about the Haley vote, but I would do everything I could to get it back,” Rollins told DailyMail.com of the Trump campaign.
The general calculation for the November elections is that a candidate must strengthen 90 percent of his base, plus more than 50 percent of independents.
Rollins noted that Trump doesn’t quite have 90 percent of his base yet, but he’s getting closer.
Biden campaigns in Phoenix, AZ on March 19 as he prepares for a rematch with Trump
Trump speaks to reporters after voting during the Florida primary on March 19
It was no surprise that the Biden campaign immediately welcomed Haley voters after her exit from the race, a constituency that could prove crucial to him as he trails Trump in a series of battleground polls.
Haley refused to endorse Trump when she dropped out. Instead, she said he had to earn the votes of her supporters.
Since then, Trump has attempted to woo Haley voters by inviting them to “join the greatest movement in our nation’s history” on social media, but he also previously posted that all of her donors are “permanently out of the MAGA camp would be excluded’.
Other groups also have their sights set on Haley voters before November.
Republican Voters Against Trump is hosting weekly focus groups and running a $50 million campaign in swing states this election cycle.
The campaign launched a few weeks ago and uses testimonials from former Trump supporters who will not vote for him in 2024.
John Conway, director of strategy, found there’s a mix when it comes to Haley voters: Some rejected Trump in 2020, but others have voted for him twice before.
“Donald Trump has become even more extreme since 2020. Voters were able to vote for him in November 2020 and then saw January 6,” Conway said. ‘So every day another Never Trumper is born. Every voter makes a different journey.’
He acknowledged that some Haley voters will return to the Republican fold in November, but his group’s focus is on shrinking the Trump coalition in the rematch with Biden.
The group’s testimonials include Republicans who will vote for Biden, but some of their Republican voters are looking for a third option or may stay home.
“Joe Biden clearly won all these swing states in 2020. He needs to win them again in 2024,” Conway said. “If two-time Trump voters or 2020 Trump voters sit out the race, that will help Joe Biden tremendously. That’s one vote less for Donald Trump.’