CNN
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Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will win the Republican presidential primary in Washington, DC, CNN tasks, after three days of voting within the social gathering’s solely capital polling location – a downtown lodge.
Haley’s victory – her first of the first – comes on the eve of what’s anticipated to be a decisive week within the GOP main, as she makes an attempt one final stand because the race turns nationwide. Former President Donald Trump has dominated each different early nominating contest and is poised to rack up extra delegates on Tremendous Tuesday.
“It’s not stunning that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos,” Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas mentioned in an announcement that touted the previous governor as the primary lady to win a GOP presidential main.
Haley’s victory, although a primary, didn’t come as a significant shock. Many in Washington believed the District represented her finest, and maybe solely, probability to win a main. Trump’s maintain on the capital’s GOP, which counts roughly 22,000 registered voters, has by no means fairly mirrored his dominance throughout the nation. Trump received the first in 2020, working uncontested, however completed third within the 2016 cycle. Haley held an occasion on Friday with native GOP leaders, a transparent signal of optimism.
The Trump marketing campaign, in an announcement, sought to spin Haley’s win right into a loss.
“Tonight’s leads to Washington D.C. reaffirm the thing of President Trump’s marketing campaign — he’ll drain the swamp and put America first,” Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned. “The swamp has claimed their queen.”
Republicans will largely neglect about Washington now, at the least within the coming basic election. Biden received it in 2020 with greater than 92% of the vote. The District has by no means supported a Republican presidential candidate. The GOP’s high-water mark got here in 1972, when Richard Nixon managed a bit greater than 21% throughout a landslide reelection.
This story has been up to date with further response.