Former United States president Donald Trump’s only challenger for the Republican presidential nomination contest, Nikki Haley, suffered an embarrassing primary loss in Nevada on Tuesday as she was defeated by no candidates.
Official results more than two hours after polls closed showed the former United Nations ambassador had just 32 percent of the vote, against more than 61 percent for “None of these candidates.”
Trump’s team had encouraged his supporters to vote against his sole rival for the party nomination, even as he sat out the ballot.
The Trump-supporting Nevada GOP ignored the primary and instead will hold caucuses to allocate the state’s delegates.
It also decreed that any candidate who put their name forward for the primary could not enter its caucus.
While not illegal, the process was rigged to ensure a Trump win as Haley is not participating in the party caucuses.
The caucus format, in which voters must attend an hours-long in-person event, more readily appeals to Trump’s fervent supporters.
The property tycoon could secure the Republican nomination by mid-March, having racked up an insurmountable lead in the delegate count.
The result of the primary has no tangible bearing on the race for the Republican nomination because it didn’t carry any delegates, but it’s another black eye for Haley as she already lost against Trump in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, and is on course to lose in her home state of South Carolina this month.
Haley’s campaign brushed off the result.
“Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots the house wins. We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump. We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond,” a spokesperson told CNN.