Trump wins Nevada Republican caucuses as sole participant – Technologist

Former US president Donald Trump won Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses on Thursday, February 8, after he was the only major candidate to compete.

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley skipped the caucuses, which are the only contest in Nevada that counts toward the GOP nomination. Haley cited what she considered an unfair process favoring Trump and instead ran in Nevada’s symbolic state-run presidential primary on Tuesday when she finished behind the “none of these candidates” option.

Trump’s win in Nevada gives him all 26 of the state’s delegates. He needs to accrue 1,215 delegates to formally clinch the party’s nomination and could reach that number in March.

Though Trump has been the front-runner, Nevada’s caucuses were seen as especially skewed in his favor due to the intense grassroots support caucuses require candidates to harness around a state to win. Nevada’s state party last year barred candidates from running both in the primary and caucuses and also restricted the role of super PACs like the groups that were key to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign before he dropped out.

Caucuses typically require voters to show up for an in-person meeting at a certain day or time, while elections can offer more flexibility to participate, with polls open for most of the day on Election Day along with absentee or early voting. Nevada Republicans said they wanted certain rules in place like a requirement that participants show a government-issued ID.

From Nevada, the GOP contest pivots to the South Carolina primary on February 24. Trump remains popular in the deeply conservative state but Haley, who won two elections as South Carolina’s governor, is hoping to benefit from a home-state advantage. Trump is eyeing a massive delegate haul during the March 5 Super Tuesday contests, which would move him closer to becoming the GOP’s presumptive nominee.