(Columbia) – Former President Donald Trump continued his march toward the Republican nomination on Saturday, winning the caucuses in Missouri and Idaho and sweeping the delegate count at the party's convention in Michigan.
Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador and her last major rival, was still searching for her first electoral victory.
The next event on the Republican calendar will be held Sunday in the District of Columbia. Two days later comes Super Tuesday, when 16 states will hold primaries in what will be the biggest voting day of the year outside of the November election. Trump will be on his way to winning the nomination in a few days.
The difficulties faced by MI Haley's faces emerged in Columbia, Missouri, where Republicans gathered in a church for a caucus.
Photo by Summer Ballentine, Associated Press
Republican caucus in Columbia, Missouri.
Seth Christensen took the stage and invited them to vote for MI Haley. It was not well received.
One caucus attendee shouted from the crowd: “Are you a Republican?” “.
An organizer calmed the crowd and Mr. Christensen finished his speech. MI Haley won only 37 of the 263 Republicans running in Boone County.
At their convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan Republicans began awarding 39 of the state GOP's 55 presidential delegates. Trump won all 39 allocated delegates.
However, a large portion of the party's base was absent from the rally due to lingering effects of the months-long conflict over party leadership.
Trump easily won the Michigan primary last Tuesday with 68% of the vote, compared to 27% for MI Haley.
Michigan Republicans were forced to split their delegate allocation in two after Democrats, who control state government, moved Michigan to early primary states, violating national Republican Party rules.
Missouri
In Missouri, voters lined up outside a church in Columbia, home of the University of Missouri, before the caucuses opened. As soon as they entered, they heard calls from the candidates' supporters.
“Every 100 days we spend a trillion dollars, and the money spreads around the world. Illegal immigrants are running across the border,” Tom Mendenal, a pro-Trump voter in 2016 and 2020, told the crowd, adding later: “You know where Donald Trump stands on a lot of These issues.”
Then Mr. Christensen, a 31-year-old Colombian who came to the caucus with his wife and three children, ages seven, five and two, urged Republicans to take a new direction.
“I don’t need to hear about Mr. Trump’s alliances with unsavory people, and neither do my children,” Mr. Christensen told the room. If we put this man in power, this is what we will hear about all the time. And I'm done with it. »
Supporters quickly moved to one side or the other of the room, depending on whether they favored Trump or Mr. Trump.I Haley. There was little discussion among the rally participants after they chose their side.
This year was the first test of the new system, which is run almost entirely by volunteers on the Republican side.
The caucuses were held after Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed the 2022 law that, among other things, eliminated the presidential primary scheduled for March 12.
Lawmakers failed to rerun the primary despite calls to do so from state Republican and Democratic party leaders. Democrats are scheduled to hold a party-sponsored primary on March 23.
Trump won twice under Missouri's old presidential primary system.
Idaho
Last year, Idaho lawmakers passed a cost-cutting law aimed at grouping all of the state's primaries together on the same date in May. But the bill inadvertently eliminated presidential primaries altogether.
The Republican-led Legislature considered holding a special session to redo the presidential primaries, but failed to agree on a proposal in time, leaving both parties with presidential caucuses as their only option.
“I think there's been a lot of confusion because most people don't realize that our legislature actually voted on a flawed bill,” said Jessie Bryant, a volunteer at the voting site near downtown Boise. “So caucus is actually the best option so you can actually vote for a candidate for the Republican nomination. »
One of those voters was John Graves, a fire protection engineer. He noted that the caucus went quickly and smoothly, as Republican primaries typically run in Idaho. He predicted that victory would go to Trump.
“It's a very conservative state, so I think Trump will probably win quite easily,” Graves said. “I love that either. ”
The Democratic caucuses will not be held until May 23.
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