Nikki Haley on Monday dropped out of the Republican presidential primary race. The move, which was hinted in previous days, came after a historic Super Tuesday for her and former President Donald Trump.
Haley is set to appear at a press conference in Charleston, South Carolina where she will officially thank her supporters. Sources close to her campaign confirmed the end of her bid. It is not clear if she will follow through on an earlier promise to endorse the eventual winner of the Republican Primary, which is expected to be Trump.
Haley ended the evening with one victory in Vermont (50 percent to 46 percent), becoming the first Republican woman to win a state primary. She also won the District of Columbia.
Trump won 14 of the 15 Republican contests and is poised claiming the vast majority of 865 convention delegates that were up for grabs on Tuesday. Over the next two weeks, he could secure additional delegates that would put him over the 1,215 delegates needed for the nomination.
President Joe Biden won 14 of 15 Democratic events, receiving most of 1,420 available delegates. He is expected to reach the 1,968 delegates to unofficially claim the nomination by March 19.
Biden lost American Somoa and in some contests failed to break 80%, an unusual outcome for an incumbent Democrat. In several states, uncommitted or other candidates won as much as 30% of the vote. In Minnesota, Boden garnered just 70% of the vote in a state he won in 2020.
But the real contest of the evening was between Trump and Haley.
Haley’s departure guarantees Trump will be the Republican nominee against Biden, who has historically low approval ratings. With the delegate contest ending so soon, pundits say this will be the longest general election campaign in history.
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice