Washington: US President Joe Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in Nevada on Tuesday, whereas in the Republican party Indian American Nikki Haley faced an embarrassing defeat at the hands of “None of These Candidates.”
The two-term former governor of South Carolina, Haley, 51, was the only candidate on the ballot for Republican presidential primaries organized by the State of Nevada, which is organising both primaries.
But the Republican party is holding its caucus on Thursday, the results of which would be used to allocate the 26 delegates from the State for the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin in July.
Haley’s rival and former US President Donald Trump is the only candidate on the ballot for Tuesday’s caucus. Trump is expected to win the caucus. However, US media described the results of the Nevada primaries as a major embarrassment for Haley. Trump immediately pounced on his rival’s defeat.
“A bad night for Nikki Haley. Losing by almost 30 points in Nevada to None of These Candidates.’ Watch, she’ll soon claim Victory!” Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump and Haley are fighting each other in the South Carolina primary on February 24, which pollsters say would decide the fate of the Republican presidential race, which is heavily tilted in favour of Trump.
Haley’s campaign, however, took the Nevada defeat lightly and decried Trump’s comments.
“Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots the house wins. We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump. We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond,” her campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez Cubas said.
As per poll results, more than 63 per cent of the voters opted for “None of These Candidates” while Haley got only 31 per cent. With this Haley became the first presidential candidate to lose a race to “none of these candidates” after it was introduced in Nevada in 1975.
Meanwhile, Biden won the Nevada primary of the Democratic party with virtually no opposition. He received nearly 90 per cent of the votes.
“I want to thank the voters of Nevada for sending me and Kamala Harris to the White House four years ago, and for setting us one step further on that same path again tonight. We must organize, mobilise, and vote. Because one day, when we look back, we’ll be able to say, when American democracy was a risk, we saved it together,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday.
The Democrat’s next primary is in Michigan on February 27.
