Former President Donald Trump effectively knocked former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley out of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, dominating her in 14 of 15 states. After her decisive defeat, Haley is reportedly expected to announce the end of her campaign Wednesday morning.
“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” Trump said before a crowd of supporters. “There’s never been one like this, there’s never been anything so conclusive. This was an amazing night.”
The former president kicked off his dominating sweep in Virginia, where he was quickly projected the winner shortly after polls closed. Despite having an open primary system that allows Democrats to vote in GOP primaries, Virginia’s preliminary results show Trump beating Haley in the commonwealth by more than 28 points, with many of Haley’s voters centralized immediately outside Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax Counties.
Trump continued his hot streak by blowing Haley out of the water in North Carolina, which opened its party primaries to unaffiliated voters last year. Estimates show the former president dominating statewide, even winning localities that traditionally favor Democrats. For example, Trump is projected to beat Haley by 7.5 points in Mecklenburg County, which encompasses the city of Charlotte.
Trump went on to dominate throughout Tuesday evening, picking up Republican strongholds such as Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Alaska. He also swept in several Democrat-friendly jurisdictions such as Massachusetts, Maine, Colorado, and Minnesota.
One of Trump’s biggest victories, however, was winning California. NBC News projected the former president as the winner of the Golden State less than 10 minutes after polls closed, gifting him California’s 169 delegates.
While Trump swept in 14 states, Haley managed to squeak out a win in Vermont. The state’s open primary system authorizes voters to participate in whichever party primary they choose.
Recruiting Democrat and left-wing independent voters has been a major facet of Haley’s electoral strategy. During the New Hampshire primary, for example, she bragged about how unaffiliated voters were boosting her election prospects, saying: “If we get independents, if we get conservative Democrats, that’s what the Republican Party should pursue. Our goal is to get as many people in the tent as we can.”
Despite her best efforts, Haley lost the Granite State to Trump.
While celebrating his Tuesday victories, Trump highlighted the importance of defeating President Biden and Democrats in the 2024 election and claimed the November contest “is going to go down as the single most important day in the history of our country.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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