The winner of Tuesday night’s, Feb. 6 Nevada Republican primary has been declared, and it wasn’t Nikki Haley, who was the only major candidate on the ballot. The winner was the “none of these candidates” option. It got the most votes, at 62%, with Haley capturing 32%.
According to an NPR analysis, Haley spent nothing on advertising in Nevada. Her focus has said to have shifted to her home state of South Carolina after New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary in January. Early voting in South Carolina’s primary begins on Feb. 12, with Haley’s defeat in Nevada’s primary the stakes are raised as her campaign could come to an end in her home state if she can’t edge out former President Donald Trump.
Former President Donald Trump did not compete in the primary, opting to participate in Thursday’s, Feb. 8, caucuses, which will award Nevada’s delegates to the winner. Haley became the first candidate for either the GOP or Democratic party to lose to the “none of these candidates” option since it was introduced in Nevada in 1975. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden won the state’s Democratic primary.
Trump is expected to win the Nevada caucus because he will be the only viable option on the ballot, as Haley is not eligible to enter the Nevada caucus after running in the state’s primary. If she had won the Nevada primary it would have only been a symbolic victory for her campaign as the states delegates are awarded to the winner of the state’s caucus.
