FARGO, N.D.— Former President Donald Trump on March 4 coasted to an easy victory in the North Dakota Republican caucus on the eve of Super Tuesday, when he is poised to continue his dominance and come within reach of the nomination.
The Associated Press projected President Trump as the winner at 9:22 p.m. ET.
The win came a day after GOP Nikki Haley picked up her first primary win, sweeping up all 19 delegates in Washington D.C. A day earlier, President Trump won GOP caucuses held in Missouri and Idaho, states in which he handily defeated Democrat opponent President Joe Biden in the November 2020 presidential election, as well as the Michigan GOP caucus.
President Trump now leads with 273 nationwide delegates against his Republican rival Nikki Haley with 43 delegates in primary and caucus.
Ms. Haley indicated that she plans to continue her campaign until Super Tuesday, despite consistent electoral losses that included her home state of South Carolina, where she served as governor.
A total of 1,215 nationwide delegates are needed to secure the Republican Party presidential nomination. There are 2,284 pledged delegates in the 2024 Republican primary and caucuses.
North Dakota has 29 registered GOP delegates up for grabs.
On March 4, registered Republicans cast secret ballots at 12 polling locations across the conservative-leaning state ahead of the 15-state primary elections known as Super Tuesday. There are 874 GOP delegates and 1,383 Democratic delegates at play in those contests.
In 1996, North Dakota discontinued state-run primaries and switched to party-run caucuses for both political parties.
According to The Associated Press, the North Dakota GOP (NDGOP) prepared 30,000 ballots for the March 4 caucuses—nearly triple the 11,300 ballots cast in 2012.
The North Dakota Democratic caucus will take place on March 30.
According to the NDGOP, a caucus is a vote conducted by a political party, “which sets its own rules for the caucus.”
“A primary and general election are votes conducted by the government, the rules for which are set by law—a primary reduces the number of candidates that qualify for the general election. A general election is the final vote in the election process in which the top vote-getter is elected to office,” the NDGOP states on its website.
“[The North Dakota Legislature] eliminated the presidential primary years ago, leaving the decision of how to nominate presidential candidates to political parties.
“The Republican Party has hosted a presidential caucus numerous times in the last several election cycles.”
Ms. Haley, 52, was the 29th U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, serving from January 2017 to December 2018, and the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017.
In late 2023, she announced her candidacy for president on a platform of immigration, economic reform, and assertive foreign policy.
Ms. Haley supported U.S. financial aid to Israel and Ukraine and was the first governor to sign legislation combating an anti-Israel boycott.
“In previous contests this year, Haley has performed best among voters who live in areas that vote for Democrats in general elections,” U.S. News reported.
“In North Dakota, those pickings are slim. [President Joe] Biden carried only two small counties in the 2020 general election.
“Her best chance is to win big in vote-rich Cass County, home of Fargo, the most populous city in the state. Trump narrowly carried Cass with just shy of 50 percent of the vote, compared with almost 47 percent for Biden.”
Popular among New Hampshire Democrats and independents, Ms. Haley was defeated in that state’s primary with 43.2 percent of the vote compared with President Trump’s 54.3 percent.
President Trump, 77, a New York businessman, was the 45th U.S. president, defeating his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 election, focusing on the slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
After promising to “drain the swamp” in Washington, President Trump faced two impeachment proceedings and allegations of “Russian collusion” by Democrats before losing to Democrat Joe Biden in a controversial reelection bid in 2020.
President Biden received 81 million votes against President Trump’s 74 million votes.
In February, a New York judge slapped the former president with a $355 million financial penalty on charges of fraud stemming from his allegedly inflating real estate property values to secure bank loans.
The ruling by Judge Arthur Engeron included a three-year ban on President Trump from serving in any leading role in a New York company, as well as the businesses he owns.
President Trump’s legal team argued that there were no victims in the case since the former president repaid the loans with interest.
