Donald Trump had told his supporters not to worry about Tuesday’s primary in Nevada because he was not on the ballot, but nearly 44,000 Republicans voted anyway to deliver a stern rebuke to Nikki Haley.
Although Haley, Trump’s latest rival for the Republican presidential nomination, was the only major candidate in Tuesday’s primary, she lost by a landslide in ballots that marked “none of these candidates.”
It was a humiliating defeat for the former United Nations ambassador and a powerful indicator of the feverish commitment of the former US president’s followers and members and strategists of the Nevada Republican Party.
“Everyone knows that Trump supporters are loyal,” said John Ashbrook, a Republican strategist who is not affiliated with any campaign this year.
“But the Nevada primary showed that they are also incredibly motivated to vote.”
There was no concerted effort by Trump’s team or the state party to persuade supporters to vote against Haley in Tuesday’s primary, party insiders said.
Trump and his team in Nevada have been insisting for weeks that voters simply attend Thursday’s separate Republican caucus, hosted by the Trump-friendly state Republican Party and the only contest in Nevada that awards delegates to the party’s nominating convention in July.
The leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump is expected to win all 26 of Nevada’s delegates. Haley, who has vowed to stay in the race and participate in South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary, is not participating in the caucus.
“Your vote in the primaries means nothing,” Trump told supporters at a rally in Nevada on January 27. “Just do the caucus thing.”
In recent days, however, a right-wing media campaign has been launched by Trump allies calling for Republicans to vote in the primaries with “any of these candidates,” said Sigal Chattah, a Republican National Committee member from Nevada and a Trump supporter. . .
Chattah said national conservative media figures and Trump supporters — including Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House adviser, and Wayne Allyn Root, a radio and television host — are urging Nevadans to vote for “neither of these candidates.” to embarrass Haley.
Even the pro-Trump governor of Nevada, Joe Lombardo, had said in recent days that he would not vote for “any of these candidates” in Tuesday’s primaries and then would support Trump in Thursday’s caucus.
Some Republican voters said they made the decision to cast a symbolic vote against Haley on their own, without guidance from Nevada party officials or the Trump campaign.
“I received no text, no email,” said GOP member Mark Lipp. “But I don’t like Haley. I decided that myself and voted for ‘neither of these candidates’. And on Thursday I will support Trump.”
Lipp’s vote was among the 63% who voted for “neither of these candidates”, while 30% supported Haley.
Source: Terra
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