The “none of these candidates”
option
won the symbolic Republican primary in Nevada on Tuesday,
an embarrassing result for Nikki Haley
, who was the only prominent candidate on the ballots.
The former ambassador to the United Nations opted to compete Tuesday in state-organized primaries
rather than party caucuses
to choose the presidential candidate, the only process in the state that awards delegates to obtain the Republican nomination.
Trump did not compete in Tuesday's primary, which does not award the delegates needed to win the Republican nomination.
Instead, the former president is focused on the caucuses that will be held on Thursday and that will help him get closer to becoming the Republican standard-bearer.
A provision in the state's election laws allowed more Nevada voters to
check “none of these candidates”
than Haley's name.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
Photo: Reuters
Haley had previously said she was going to “focus on states that are fair” and
did not make much of a campaign effort in the western state.
Tuesday also saw a Democratic primary that President Joe Biden
easily won
against
writer Marianne Williamson
and a handful of lesser-known candidates.
Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota was not showing.
Nevada, a crucial state
Biden was in little danger of losing the primary, but campaigned in the state on Sunday and Monday to
begin mobilizing voters ahead of November
, when Nevada will be a crucial battleground state.
Jeff Turner, 65, arrived at Reno Town Mall
with a ballot for “none of these candidates.”
His preferred candidates, Florida Governor Ron de Santis, and then businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, would not have appeared on the ballot either if they were still campaigning, because they had decided to participate in Thursday's caucuses.
Turner was one of the people who lamented the increasingly likely repetition of the duel between Trump and Biden.
Trump is expected to take Nevada's 26 Republican delegates in Thursday's caucuses.
Photo: Bloomberg
“I think it's my duty,” Turner said of voting in an election in which his preferred candidates were not running.
“I believe that we all have the right to vote, we should vote.
And even if it's not one of these candidates, at least it's stating what I think.
And I hope others see it.”
Trump is expected
to take Nevada's 26 Republican delegates
in Thursday's caucuses.
He needs to gather 1,215 delegates
to officially clinch the party's candidacy, but he could reach that number
in March.
Where does the "none of the candidates" option come from?
Nevada lawmakers added
the “none of these candidates” option
to all state ballots
after Watergate
, as a way for voters to express their displeasure with the challengers.
“None” cannot win elected office, but he was the top vote-getter in the 1976 and 1978 congressional primaries. He also
finished ahead of George Bush
and Edward Kennedy in the 1980 Nevada presidential primary.
The two parallel processes have been a
source of confusion and frustration for voters,
said Cari-Ann Burges, acting registrar of voters in Washoe County, which includes Reno.
Her office has been fielding calls from Republican voters for months asking
what process they should vote in
and why Trump wasn't on the primary ballot they received in the mail.
Those calls continued Tuesday.