A file photo of the Campaign signs of Republican presidential candidate and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
Credit: Reuters Photo
Donald Trump swept three Republican nominating contests Saturday, shutting out his insurgent rival, Nikki Haley, and doubling his delegate count as he continues his march toward the party’s nomination. And it delivers to Haley yet another crushing series of defeats heading into Super Tuesday.
The former president won all 39 delegates in a Republican Party nominating convention held in Michigan; won overwhelmingly in the Missouri caucuses, picking up another 51 delegates; and won nearly 85% of the vote in the Idaho caucuses, securing all 32 of the delegates from that contest.
That means that Trump won 122 delegates Saturday, doubling his total delegate count in one day. Haley, who did not win a single delegate Saturday, remains at 24 delegates. A candidate needs 1,215 to win the Republican nomination.
The results reflect Trump’s status as the dominant front-runner in the race, winning overwhelming majorities of party stalwarts in Michigan and caucus voters in Idaho and Missouri. The results also reflect the increasingly quixotic nature of Haley’s campaign. Trump has resoundingly defeated her in contest after contest.
In Missouri, where the most delegates were awarded Saturday, Trump won every one of the state’s 114 counties, though the exact vote count is not yet clear. The results were reported in terms of how many of the 924 caucus delegates each candidate won. Trump took them all.
“Missouri Republicans have spoken loud and clear today, affirming their trust in President Trump’s leadership and rejecting the failed policies of the Democrats in Washington,” Nick Myers, the chair of the Missouri Republican Party, said in a statement.
Trump also won an overwhelming majority of the vote in Idaho’s caucuses, though turnout was much lower compared with previous years when the state held a Republican primary. Both Idaho and Missouri switched to Republican caucuses this year.