The 2024 presidential hopeful is in Washington DC today to try to win over the few Republican voters in that country’s Democratic capital, in what may be her best chance of defeating Donald Trump in a primary.
Trump and Haley are vying for the district’s coveted 19 Republican delegates, and it’s a must-watch primary race that will likely be on the line.
Republicans in the nation’s capital can cast their votes in closed primaries Friday through Sunday at just one location: the Madison Hotel.
And DC may be Haley’s best — and only — chance to beat Trump in any primary.
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 although he won in an uncontested race in 2020, only about 2,800 Republicans voted.
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 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.
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
Trump campaign signals DC contest not as important as 15 states and one territory will vote on Super Tuesday
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
This is good news for Haley.
If she can successfully motivate more Republicans to vote for her than Trump this weekend, she has a shot at victory in the DC primaries.
DC voter Dan Schubert told DailyMail.com that he is voting 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.
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 is indicating that the DC contest is not as important as voting will take place in 15 states and one territory on Super Tuesday, 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.”
His campaign sent text messages to voters in the area urging them to go to the Madison Hotel and vote.
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
‘Make sure you vote. President Trump needs you!’ reads a text obtained by DailyMail.com.
‘Do not wait. STEP UP AND VOTE FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP.”
The former governor of South Carolina vowed to stay in the race at least until Super Tuesday.
Trump is up 81 percent to Haley’s 18 percent in the most recent 2024 Republican primary polls conducted by Morning Consult.
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.
The Haley campaign has urged voters in the district to go to the hotel, saying in a text message “we cannot afford four more years of Biden’s failures or Trump’s lack of focus.”
“You deserve better than a choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump,” Haley says in the campaign text.
Other GOP candidates on the DC ballot include: David Stuckenberg, a businessman, Ryan Binkley, Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Both early and absentee voting were not allowed in the DC GOP primary.
According to the Associated Press, only two voters requested a military or overseas ballot in 2016.
If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes, he gets all 19 delegates, otherwise they are distributed proportionally.
Polls in DC close at 7pm ET on Sunday.