Nikki Haley defeated Donald Trump for the very first time in the Republican primaries in Washington, D.C., on Sunday night, in what could be her only victory heading into Super Tuesday.
The D.C. Republican Party reported that Haley won 62 percent, compared to Trump’s 33 percent, with only 2,035 voters participating. That makes Haley the first Republican woman to ever win a primary in American history.
The result in DC comes a day after Trump’s clean victory in Republican primaries in Idaho, Michigan and Missouri on Saturday, as he moves closer to a rematch with Biden in November.
Her victory in Democratic-run and urban DC shakes Trump’s stronghold on nearly every facet of the Republican Party, but it is not expected to have a huge impact nationally.
Trump and Haley battled for the district’s coveted 19 Republican delegates — out of a total of 2,429 to the Republican National Convention in July — in the race that came down to the wire. Going into Super Tuesday, Trump has 244 delegates to Haley’s 43, with 1,215 needed for the Republican nomination.
DC was seen as Haley’s best chance to beat Trump in any primary, as the former president is expected to capture the 15 upcoming Super Tuesday states.
In 2016, Trump finished a distant third in the D.C. GOP primary at just 14 percent, behind Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. And while he won in an uncontested race in 2020, only about 2,800 Republicans voted in total.
Trump campaign signals DC contest not as important as 15 states and one territory will vote on Super Tuesday
The former South Carolina governor made a stop at the Madison Hotel Friday afternoon after polls opened, with a plea for the district’s few Republicans to support her over Trump.
Thousands of voters from fifteen states head to the polls for what has been known as ‘Super Tuesday’ since the 1970s
The few Republicans living in the nation’s capital were able to cast ballots at only one location — the Madison Hotel — from Friday through Sunday during the closed primaries.
The Trump campaign reportedly monitored whether DC lobbyists showed up at the polls — and threatened that they would be denied access to a Trump-led White House in the future if they failed to vote for him in the primaries.
Trump has not visited DC for any of his signature political rallies, and has repeatedly condemned the district for being so left-wing. He has called the nation’s capital a “rat-infested, graffiti-infested sh**hole!”
However, the former South Carolina governor made a stop at the Madison Hotel on Friday after polls opened to rally the county’s roughly 23,000 registered Republicans to support her over Trump.
She joked at the top, teasing “who says there aren’t Republicans in DC!” to laughter among the crowd of Republican voters living in a heavily Democratic district.
The 2024 hopeful ran through her stump speech, taking shots at Congress’s inefficiency, which went down well with the D.C.-based group, and Biden and Trump’s failures on the economy and immigration.
Haley urged voters to “get loud” and rally friends and family to “send a message” in the primaries that “we need to move in a new direction.”
“I can’t believe this is the only place you can vote,” she joked to laughter among the roughly 150 people gathered in a cramped space at the hotel.
“So you can’t leave until you vote,” she teased.
‘This is the time we need to take a new direction with a new generation, a leader who can put in eight years of day and night. No negativity, no drama, no revenge, just hard results for the American people. It’s time.’
Republican voters in the crowd said Friday they have had enough of Trump and want Haley to restore a sense of dignity to the president’s office.
They “booed” loudly when she brought up Trump and were angry about the former president’s swipes at veterans and his political rivals.
DC voter Dan Schubert told DailyMail.com that he voted for Nikki because America needs a “new face” in the White House after years of “chaos” from Trump and Biden.
“We now have an alternative for a bright future with a bright, savvy, experienced candidate who will take our country in a bright new direction,” he added.
2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is in Washington, D.C., today to try to sway the district’s few Republican voters in that nation’s capital
Dan said the “energy in the room” during her remarks proves that there is momentum for her and that she has a “huge chance to win this weekend.”
“I think if she wins in the District of Columbia, Super Tuesday will look a little different,” he added.
National security was a particularly important issue for the assembled voters, who cited it as their top concern.
Another DC voter, Laura, told DailyMail.com that Haley is efficient on the issue.
“A big part of a president’s job is foreign relations,” she said. “And I think (Haley) would do better than any of the other candidates still in the race.”
She also said it’s time for a “pro-life female president” in the White House.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign indicated that the DC contest is not as important as the 15-state and one-territory vote on Super Tuesday – next March 5.
There are 874 delegates up for grabs – 36 percent – of all delegates to the Republican National Convention this summer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“Republican voters have delivered resounding victories to President Trump in every primary and this race is over,” a Trump campaign spokesman said.
“Our focus now is on Joe Biden and the general election.”
A Saturday NY Times/Siena poll found that Trump leads Haley by 55 points in the race for the Republican nomination going into Super Tuesday.
Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are the three remaining in the 2024 contest
The Haley campaign has urged voters in the district to go to the hotel
Haley’s campaign isn’t losing momentum — she also revealed earlier Friday that her campaign raised $12 million in February alone, despite losing every primary to date
The former governor of South Carolina promised to stay in the race at least until Super Tuesday.
But her campaign isn’t losing momentum: She also revealed earlier Friday that her campaign raised $12 million in February alone, despite losing every primary to date.