Former South Carolina governor and current presidential candidate Nikki Haley won the Washington, DC, Republican primary against Donald Trump.
The Sunday victory marks Haley's first win in the nominating process and is seen to temporarily halt the former president's sweep of the GOP voting contests. However, it comes as the Republican businessman is expected to pick up several hundred more delegates in this week's Super Tuesday races.
Nikki Haley Wins Washington Primary
Despite the former South Carolina governor's losses early in the GOP nominating process, she committed to staying in the race at least through those contests. She has declined to name any primary that she felt confident to win over the Republican frontrunner.
After Haley's loss last week in her home state, she remained adamant that voters in places that followed deserved an alternative to the former president despite his dominance thus far in the campaign.
The development comes as Washington is one of the most heavily Democratic jurisdictions in the United States. There are only roughly 23,000 registered Republicans in the city and President Joe Biden won the district in the 2020 presidential race with 92% of the vote, as per the Associated Press.
Shortly after Haley's Washington primary victory, Trump issued a statement sarcastically congratulating her on being named "Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that want to protect the failed status quo."
The former South Carolina governor held a rally in the country's capital on Friday just before heading back to North Carolina, and a series of states held Super Tuesday primaries. The lawmaker joked with more than 100 supporters inside a hotel ballroom.
As Haley gave her standard campaign speech where she criticized Trump for running up the federal deficit, one rallygoer said that the former president should win a general election, saying it would be madness.
The Washington primary results showed Haley had 62.9% of the vote and the former president only had 33.2%. Despite the victory, the former South Carolina governor still faces near-impossible odds with her goal of getting the GOP nomination, according to Reuters.
GOP Nomination Process
Opinion polls also show that Trump is expected to win nearly all the nominating contests moving forward. Washington, DC, has a relatively high proportion of residents who hold a college degree. The former president is particularly strong in areas with low educational attainment.
Furthermore, the city is also home to a significant number of federal workers whom allies of Trump have pledged to fire en masse and replace with loyalists if he ends up winning the November general election.
Haley has also recently said she no longer feels bound by the Republican National Committee pledge to endorse Trump if he becomes the party's nominee. During an interview aired on Sunday, she said that the current RNC is no longer the same committee as before.
Her stance is a complete shift from her previous pledge to support the Republican nominee in the presidential race. The RNC required candidates to sign a loyalty pledge to be able to attend the primary debate stage, said USA Today.
