Deep-Blue Washington Delivers Haley Her 1st GOP Primary Win

Republican presidential hopeful and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign rally in Portland, Maine, on March 3, 2024. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON—Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley secured her first GOP primary win over former President Donald Trump on March 3, winning 62.8 percent of the vote in the District of Columbia’s primary.

President Trump won 33.2 percent. Because Ms. Haley won more than 60 percent of the vote, she now gets all of the district’s 19 delegates. The district is deep blue, with 92 percent of its electorate voting for candidate Joe Biden in 2020.

The primary came one day after President Trump swept up all three Republican caucuses in Michigan, Missouri, and Idaho. Until March 3, the former president had won every single primary contest since Iowa in January—all of them by large margins.

Ms. Haley is the first woman to win a Republican presidential primary in U.S. history.

“It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement.

President Trump’s campaign said the results “reaffirmed the object of President Trump’s campaign—he will drain the swamp and put America first.”

“While Nikki Haley has been soundly rejected throughout the rest of America, she was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by lobbyists and D.C. insiders that want to protect the status quo,” Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Prior to the district’s primary, President Trump had 244 delegates, and Ms. Haley had 24. The former South Carolina governor’s first primary victory brings her delegate count up to 43.

The North Dakota Republican primary on March 4 is followed by Super Tuesday, on March 5, when 15 states and American Samoa will vote.

A person votes during the 2024 District of Columbia Republican presidential primary at the Madison Hotel in Washington on March 3, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

This year’s turnout was 2,035 of the 22,500 registered Republicans in the nation’s capital, according to District of Columbia GOP chair Patrick Mara, who said the voter roll had just been cleaned up. In comparison, the contested 2016 and 2012 primary campaign turnouts were 2,800 and 5,200, respectively, and about 1,550 voters participated in the uncontested primary in 2020.

This year’s primary in the district was unique. It’s a closed primary, meaning that only registered Republicans could vote. Unlike the 2020 Republican primary, which was run by the city, this primary was run by the district’s GOP. Therefore, the Madison Hotel was the only polling location for the primary. Polls opened on March 1 and closed at 7 p.m. EST on March 3.

Patrick Mara, District of Columbia GOP chair, announces that polls of the district's Republican presidential primary are closed at the Madison Hotel in Washington at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 3, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

It’s the first time that the district’s GOP has ever administered a primary on its own because the rules of the Republican National Committee require any state or territory primaries to occur at least 45 days before the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for July 15. The deadline thus falls on May 31, ahead of the city-run primary in June.

The entrance of the 2024 District of Columbia Republican presidential primary at the Madison Hotel in Washington on March 3, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Volunteers at the Madison Hotel told The Epoch Times that it was a unique experience—exciting and exhausting but ultimately rewarding.

The race was a close one. Mr. Mara told The Epoch Times hours before the poll closed that “it’s anyone’s election.”

“Today, I see two Trump people. Then I see two Haley people. Then I see a Haley person. Then I see a Trump person. Maybe it’s a blowoff, but today, it looks awfully close,” he said, adding that he knew a lot of people’s voting decisions in the close-knit community.

Mr. Mara observed that this time, compared to the last contested Republican primary, people were “fairly positive whether they were for Haley or for Trump.” In contrast, he said, a lot of “Never Trumpers” were at the Republican primary in 2016, which was won by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Did Trump Campaign Threaten Republican Lobbyists in DC?

According to a Politico report, the Trump campaign warned Republican lobbyists in the District of Columbia that “if you don’t bother voting, don’t bother calling.” The author, Alex Isenstadt, quoted an anonymous source on the Trump team authorized to speak about campaign strategy that those lobbyists would risk losing access to President Trump once he was back in the White House if they didn’t vote in the district’s primary, claiming that the Trump campaign would obtain the voting data.

Mr. Mara said he had two phone calls with Mr. Isenstadt and clarified that the voting data wouldn’t be public information through the city’s Board of Elections because the race is a party-run event.

The article is now updated to say that although the district’s GOP owns the voting data, the Trump team would get the data eventually because they believe that the district’s GOP would upload the data to Data Trust, a digital voter data system used by the Republican Party, or give the data to the Republican National Committee.

Sample official ballot for the District of Columbia Republican presidential primary at the Madison Hotel in Washington on March 3, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The back side of a sample official ballot for the District of Columbia Republican presidential primary at the Madison Hotel in Washington on March 3, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Mr. Mara told The Epoch Times that it would still be impossible to know who voted for which primary candidate because they don’t record that information in their spreadsheet. The Epoch Times reviewed a blank official ballot, which doesn’t capture any voter information.

Mr. Mara called his primary data “America’s least interesting data,” adding that the data only show a list of Republicans who voted at the Madison Hotel.

In addition, he said he was unaware of the reported warning from the Trump campaign.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.

The 2024 District of Columbia Republican presidential primary is held at the Madison Hotel in Washington on March 1–3, 2024. The hotel entrance is seen on March 3, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Haley Supporters Like Her Style

Ms. Haley held a rally at the Madison Hotel on March 1 after making a campaign stop in northern Virginia the previous night. More than 200 people attended the March 1 event, held during lunchtime.

Her supporters liked her style and described her as “level-headed,” “smart,” and “a good alternative.” Unlike in northern Virginia, the District of Columbia supporters told The Epoch Times that their support for Ms. Haley stemmed more from a positive perception of her than as a protest vote against President Trump.

Jack Tompkins, a 19-year-old college student majoring in politics, cast his first-ever election vote for Ms. Haley at the District of Columbia primary on March 1. Self-identified as a moderate Republican, he told The Epoch Times shortly after he voted: “There’s definitely that presence of younger, moderate Republicans. They just need someone to follow or to speak for them.”

On Super Tuesday, 874 delegates are up for grabs. The Republican candidate who wins 1,215 delegates becomes the de facto nominee. While President Trump will not be able to obtain enough delegates to clinch the nomination on March 5, he appears on track to do so by about mid-March.

Trump Supporter: ‘He Could Handle the Border’

Chinko Watkins, 41, an active District of Columbia Republican Party member, spoke to The Epoch Times when exiting the Madison Hotel on the afternoon of March 3.

He said he had voted for President Trump.

“I believe that out of the candidates, Donald Trump has the capability to actually win the primary and the [general] election,” he said. “He actually has a policy; whether people agree with it or not, he did have results. I think he contended and proved that he could handle the border.”

Originally from Boston, Mr. Watkins has lived in the district for more than 16 years. He said that as an African American, his decision wasn’t affected by Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) endorsement of President Trump. He had voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

He said his vote of confidence for President Trump is based on his ability to “make things work and propose policies that can have economic and social benefits for all people, not just one party or another.”