Donald Trump has claimed victory in the Nevada primary without even being on the ballot - after voters opted to select "none of these candidates."
The former president walked away with a win over main rival Nikki Haley after she refused to campaign in the state due to her claiming the election was "rigged" for Trump.
Trump didn’t compete in the primary, which doesn’t award any delegates needed to win the GOP nomination. The former president is instead focused on caucuses that will be held Thursday and will help him move closer to becoming the Republican standard-bearer.
This led to more than 42,000 people selecting the "None of these candidates" option with 84% of the estimated vote counted and left Haley trailing behind at 30.6% after receiving 20,799 votes. So far, around 67,500 votes have been counted.
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Nikki Haley was left trailing behind (AFP via Getty Images)"A bad night for Nikki Haley. Losing by almost 30 points in Nevada to None of These Candidates," remarked Trump on Truth Social Tuesday night. "Watch, she'll soon claim Victory!"
Haley had said beforehand she was going to “focus on the states that are fair” and did not campaign in the western state in the weeks leading up to the caucuses, spending time instead in her home state, South Carolina, before its February 24 primary. Her campaign wrote off the results with a reference to Nevada’s famous casino industry.
“Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots the house wins,” spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said. “We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump. We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond.”
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican, had announced beforehand that he would vote for “none of these candidates” on Tuesday. Several Republicans interviewed heading to the polls said they intended to do the same.
Voters opted for 'none of the above' option (CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Washoe County Republican Party Chair Bruce Parks, who pushed for the GOP to hold caucuses, said that he told voters who called his office — and Trump supporters — to participate in the primary by voting for “none of these candidates” over Haley.
“They basically told us they don’t care about us,” Parks said in an interview after the race was called. “By marking ‘none of these candidates,’ we respond in kind — we don’t care about you either.”
Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, a Trump ally who faces state charges for serving as a so-called “fake elector” on the former president’s behalf, said he left it to each county GOP chairman to decide if they wanted to promote “none of these candidates.” He said Haley’s seeming disrespect of Nevada voters was “reciprocated” with the results.
Nevada lawmakers added “none of these candidates” as an option in all statewide races as a way post-Watergate for voters to participate but express dissatisfaction with their choices. “None” can’t win an elected office but it came in first in primary congressional contests in 1976 and 1978. It also finished ahead of both George Bush and Edward Kennedy in Nevada’s 1980 presidential primaries.
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