Biden coasts to victory, Nikki Haley upended by ‘none of these candidates’ in thinly-contested Nevada primary
President Biden emerged victorious in Nevada’s Democratic primary Tuesday, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley suffered a humiliating defeat in the Republican contest where former President Donald Trump’s name wasn’t even on the ballot.
“None of these candidates” was the top vote-getter on the GOP side of the bill, with the option receiving more than 60% of the vote when the race was called by the Associated Press.
Haley was the only major GOP candidate that signed up for the Nevada primary, which has no delegates at stake, over the state GOP-run caucus, which will be held Thursday and has 26 delegates up for grabs.
Facing virtually no competition, Haley only amassed 33.2% of the vote in a contest marked by low turnout.
Only 11,802 total ballots had been cast in person as of 2 p.m. local time, according to the Nevada secretary of state’s office.
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The Haley campaign admitted Monday that it hadn’t “spent a dime or an ounce of energy on Nevada.”
Trump, 77, is expected to win Thursday’s Silver State caucus and add to his delegate tally ahead of the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary, where he leads in the polls by 27 points, according to a RealClearPolitics average of surveys.
Meanwhile, Biden added to his delegate count after receiving 90% support in the race just after midnight eastern time, breezing past his longshot opponents and positioning himself to secure most, if not all, of the state’s 36 Democratic delegates.
The “none of these candidates” option received 5.7% of the vote, good for second place. Self-help guru Marianne Williamson finished third with about 2.5% support.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who finished with nearly 20% of the vote in last month’s New Hampshire Democratic primary, was not on the Nevada ballot, having entered the race after the state’s Oct. 16 filing deadline.
Biden’s victory in Nevada’s first-in-the-West contest comes after his easy win in Saturday’s South Carolina Democratic primary, where 55 delegates were on the line.
The incumbent also won the New Hampshire’s Democratic primary on Jan. 23 despite not being listed on the ballot and leaving supporters to write his name in.
Biden needs 1,968 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.
The next contest on the calendar for Democrats is Michigan’s Feb. 27 primary.
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