2024 Republican hopeful Nikki Haley suffered an embarrassing defeat Tuesday in Nevada’s GOP primary—but not to former President Donald Trump, who did not even appear on the ballot due to his participation in the state’s dueling caucus event.
Haley, the only major candidate, was instead beaten by voters who selected the option reading “none of these candidates,” according to multiple projections, including the Associated Press and NBC News.
The defeat will not affect her numerical standing–because the state’s caucus is technically the only contest to award delegates toward the Republican Party nomination–but it is a symbolic defeat that is sure to affect her standing among voters and make her already difficult path to victory even tougher to walk.
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Among those who voted against Haley—and all of the other candidates—was Nevada’s Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who announced in the days leading up to Tuesday’s primary that he would be selecting “none of these candidates.”
Haley originally opted to participate in Tuesday’s primary over Thursday’s caucus because of the state’s steep $55,000 participation fee.
“We have not spent a dime nor an ounce of energy on Nevada,” Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney said Monday. “We made the decision early on that we were not going to pay $55,000 to a Trump entity to participate in a process that is rigged for Trump.”
