Haley will win DC GOP primary, CNN projects

Initially Revealed: 03 MAR 24 20:38 ET

By Gregory Krieg, CNN

(CNN) — Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will win the Republican presidential primary in Washington, DC, CNN initiatives, after three days of voting within the celebration’s solely capital polling location – a downtown lodge.

Haley’s victory – her first of the first – comes on the eve of what’s anticipated to be a decisive week within the GOP major, as she makes an attempt one final stand because the race turns nationwide.

Haley’s victory, although, didn’t come as a significant shock. Many in Washington believed the District represented her greatest, and maybe solely, probability to win a major. Trump’s maintain on the capital’s GOP, which counts roughly 22,000 registered voters, has by no means fairly mirrored his dominance throughout the nation. Trump received the first in 2020, operating uncontested, however completed third within the 2016 cycle. Haley held an occasion on Friday with native GOP leaders, a transparent signal of optimism.

Republicans will principally neglect about Washington now, at the least within the coming normal election. Biden received it in 2020 with greater than 92% of the vote. The District has by no means supported a Republican presidential candidate. The GOP’s high-water mark got here in 1972, when Richard Nixon managed somewhat greater than 21% throughout a landslide re-election.