1 of 1 Nikki Haley poses for a selfie at a campaign rally in Vermont this Sunday (3) Photo: Michael Dwyer/Associated Press Nikki Haley poses for a selfie at a campaign rally in Vermont this Sunday (3) Photo: Michael Dwyer /Associated Press
US presidential candidate Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in Washington in the District of Columbia this Sunday (3).
➡️ That's that The former South Carolina governor's first victory in the nomination process and interrupts, at least temporarily, Donald Trump's dominance in Republican Party electoral disputes.
Haley is the former American president's only opponent in the race. She received 62.9% of the votes, versus 33.2%. Still, it will still be difficult for the primary candidate to win the Republican nomination to face the likely Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden, in November.
Trump won the first eight nomination contests with a clear lead before losing to Haley in the US capital. According to opinion polls, he is expected to win almost all nomination contests in the future.
➡️ But what explains Harley's victory in Washington DC? First, the 100% urban city has a high proportion of residents with college degrees. Trump's core base is rural and is particularly strong in areas with low levels of education.
The city was also home to a significant number of federal workers who Trump's allies would lay off en masse and replace with loyalists if they won in November. Some categories of federal workers have seen an increase in death threats in recent years, and Trump frequently refers to the D.C. area as a “swamp.”
Haley received 19 delegates from his victorya small part of the required 1,215 delegates to secure the nomination.
It is not the first time that Republicans in the capital have rejected Trump. In the last competitive Republican nominating contest in the District of Columbia in 2016, Trump received less than 14% of the vote and no delegates, despite winning the nomination statewide.
Haley's victory precedes one of the most important dates of the election: Super Tuesday, the day on which Several states elect candidates for President of the United States at the same time.
Historically, the day is usually crucial for both the Republican and Democratic parties, but especially for the opposition party this time the Republicans. The Democratic primary in Washington will take place in June.
In a single day, just over a third of the delegates representatives of each candidate are chosen.
This year, 15 states and one U.S. territory will vote on Super Tuesday, which takes place on 5. March. For Republicans, this means electing 874 of the party's total 2,429 delegates.