Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in Washington, DC on Sunday -- her first 2024 primary victory against frontrunner Donald Trump -- as she heads into Super Tuesday. Haley, 52, was declared the winner by the Associated Press after she took all 19 delegates at stake in this GOP primary, which unfolded in one of the most heavily Democratic areas in the country.
The D.C. Republican Party reported that Haley won 62 percent of the vote, surpassing Trump's 33 percent, with a total of just 2,035 participants. Haley's win in the D.C. primary comes one day after Trump swept the GOP primaries in Idaho, Michigan, and Missouri the day before.
Haley Wins at Last
Haley's win makes her the first Republican woman in U.S. history to secure a primary victory. "Who says there's no Republicans in DC, come on," she playfully remarked to supporters during a campaign event in the nation's capital on Friday. "We're trying to make sure that we touch every hand that we can and speak to every person."
This also marks Trump's first primary loss in the 2024 election, even though expectations are high for him to dominate in the upcoming Super Tuesday contests this week.
In the intense competition for the district's prized 19 Republican delegates, a crucial portion of the 2,429 total for the Republican National Convention in July, both Trump and Haley battled fiercely.
As they head into Super Tuesday, Trump currently commands 244 delegates compared to Haley's 43, with 1,215 delegates needed for the GOP nomination.
Washington, D.C. was considered Haley's most promising opportunity to beat Trump in any primary race, given the expectation of the former president's dominance in the 15 upcoming Super Tuesday states.
Despite facing defeats earlier, Haley, the only remaining Republican contender against the former president, has vowed to stay in the race at least through the 15 Super Tuesday contests.
Trump Unfazed by Loss
However, the 77-year-old Trump appeared unperturbed by his first loss. He sarcastically congratulated the former South Carolina governor on being dubbed the "Queen of the Swamp" by lobbyists and D.C. insiders who aim to preserve the unsuccessful status quo.
Trump previously won the uncontested D.C. primary in 2020, but in the primary four years earlier, he landed a distant third behind Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
The Trump campaign reportedly kept a close watch on D.C. lobbyists, suggesting that their access to a Trump-led White House in the future could be compromised if they didn't support him in the primary.
Trump did not visit D.C. for one of his trademark political rallies and has time and again criticized the district for its left-wing orientation, describing it as a "rat-infested, graffiti-infested sh**hole."
However, Haley, made an appearance at the Madison Hotel on Friday after the polls opened. During the rally, she urged the roughly 23,000 registered Republicans in the district to support her candidacy over Trump.
Throughout her campaign, Haley has consistently claimed that she is the only Republican candidate capable of beating President Joe Biden in the general election.
However, Trump has time after time garnered support from Republicans, leading other GOP presidential candidates to withdraw from the race and endorse him.
In recent caucuses in Missouri, Idaho, and Michigan, Trump won over Haley, reinforcing expectations that he will secure the party's nomination to contend against Biden in the upcoming election.
