No delegates are awarded in the Nevada GOP primary. Trump is participating in the state’s GOP Caucus held on Feb. 8.
LAS VEGAS–In one of the strangest sets of race results in recent times, candidate Nikki Haley on Feb. 6 technically lost to “None of Those Candidates” in Nevada’s Republican primary, an unsanctioned contest that didn’t feature GOP front-runner former President Donald Trump.
The race was called on 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time. “None of These Candidates” won 61 percent to Ms. Haley’s 32 percent, with 53 percent reporting.
Ms. Haley’s rival, President Trump, is instead participating in the state’s GOP Caucus on Feb. 8, which will award delegates. Running virtually unopposed, President Trump is practically assured an easy victory.
The state GOP enacted those rules in defiance of the state-mandated primary that Democrat-dominant lawmakers approved. Democrats held a separate primary, which the incumbent, President Joe Biden, easily won.
Ms. Haley’s setback in the Silver State will have no real effect on the rest of the race—given that no delegates will be awarded—other than providing additional fodder for campaign rhetoric.
But political analysts said before the race that if Ms. Haley made a poor showing in the “meaningless” primary, it could influence whether she decides to remain in the race.
Regardless of the vote total, “None” can’t be listed as the winner, officials said, so that honor would belong to the second-place finisher.
Ms. Haley’s campaign issued a statement on Feb. 5, explaining part of her rationale for avoiding the Republican-run Nevada caucus.
“We have not spent a dime nor an ounce of energy on Nevada,” Betsy Ankney, Haley’s campaign manager, said in the emailed campaign memo. She said Ms. Haley was refusing to pay the state GOP its required $55,000 caucus-filing fee “to participate in a process that is rigged for Trump.”
Bruce Parks, chairman of Nevada’s Washoe County GOP, denied that allegation. He said the caucus process is fair to all who opted to participate.
Mr. Parks previously told The Epoch Times that he and other Nevadans felt that Ms. Haley was thumbing her nose at Nevada by refusing to participate in the caucus and by largely being absent from their state.
By Janice Hisle
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