Politics

Nikki Haley just won her first primary victory in DC, but Trump is still crushing the GOP race

Nikki Haley (left) and Donald Trump (right).
Nikki Haley (left) and Donald Trump (right). Scott Eisen via Getty Images; Win McNamee via Getty Images
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Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley may have won her first primary in Washington, DC, but former President Donald Trump still remains firmly in the lead.

On Sunday, Haley made history as the first woman to win a GOP primary in US history. She now has a total of 43 delegates, after accounting for the 19 delegates she won in DC.

"It's not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos," Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokesperson for the Haley campaign, said in a statement to Bloomberg.

But the victory provides little relief for Haley, who is still trailing far behind Trump, who has 244 delegates. Candidates need to secure 1,215 delegates to clinch the GOP presidential nomination.

The Trump campaign dismissed Haley's win on Sunday, saying that the primary results only "reaffirm the object of President Trump's campaign — he will drain the swamp and put America first."

"While Nikki has been soundly rejected throughout the rest of America, she was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that want to protect the failed status quo," Karoline Leavitt, a press secretary for the Trump campaign, told BI in a statement. "The swamp has claimed their queen."

Both candidates will face off once again on Super Tuesday, with 15 state primaries set to take place on March 5. Although Haley has repeatedly vowed to stay in the race, she hasn't committed to staying in the race after Super Tuesday.

"I have every intention of going to Super Tuesday. Through Super Tuesday, we're going to keep on going and see where this gets us. That's what we know we're going to do right now," Haley told NBC News' Kristin Welker in January. "I take it one state at a time. I don't think too far ahead."

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Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
Kevin was a reporter at Business Insider's Singapore bureau. He reported primarily on the ins and outs of the business world, whether it be breaking news, covering CEO moves, tracking quarterly earnings, or writing explainers.He also covered careers and workplace issues, and has written about career transitions, the FIRE lifestyle, the college internship arms race, and the job hunt struggles faced by computer science majors.BackgroundKevin joined Business Insider's Singapore bureau in 2023. Before that, he was a civil servant at Singapore's Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment. He was appointed to the Singapore government's Public Service Leadership Programme, a talent development programme that develops capable and talented individuals for key leadership positions in the public service.Kevin’s journalism career began in college, where he first worked as a researcher for Channel NewsAsia and The Economist, and later as an intern reporter at Bloomberg News. In 2017, the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust awarded him the Leading Change Journalism Bursary. His stories have appeared in numerous publications, including Fortune, The Japan Times, and The Edge Singapore.Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the National University of Singapore, where he was an NUS Merit Scholar. He was also the recipient of the PwC Whole Leadership Award, the NTUC Income Prize, the CFA Singapore Prize, and the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize.