Nikki Haley will almost definitely win the Nevada presidential Republican primary tonight — and earn precisely zero delegates. I’m not clairvoyant — Donald Trump isn’t listed on the primary ballot. Instead, he’s competing in the GOP caucuses on Thursday, the contest that will determine all 26 Nevada delegates, and that will not include Haley.
Come caucus night, don’t be surprised if she rains on Trump’s parade by pointing to overall turnout numbers.
Yet, it looks like Haley may end up having a good night anyway, and she only has Trump and his campaign advisers to thank. Firstly, she will technically get a win, albeit a hollow one without any delegates. But come caucus night, don’t be surprised if she rains on Trump’s parade by pointing to overall turnout numbers.
Confused? You can thank the Nevada GOP.
In a nutshell, Nevada changed its election law in 2021 to require both the Democratic and Republican parties to replace their traditional caucuses with state-run primaries if more than two presidential candidates are on the ballot. But Nevada’s state GOP opted to caucus anyway — and use that contest to allocate the party’s delegates. Republican candidates had to choose one or the other, with Trump picking the caucuses and Haley picking the primary. (Although Republican voters can hypothetically vote in both.)
This cockamamie idea was cooked up by Nevada’s state GOP chair, Michael McDonald, an avid Trump follower who was indicted on felony charges last December for being a fake 2020 elector. The theory is that caucuses tend to attract more of the GOP’s MAGA superfans, giving Trump the edge.
But it turns out preparing for a statewide caucus can be complicated. Axios reported over the weekend that Team Trump voiced concerns about the party’s bandwidth and organization (apparently, the Nevada GOP only has one full-time staffer). The state’s presidential primaries, meanwhile, are run and promoted by the secretary of state. This means a lot…
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