On Tuesday, in the Pennsylvania primary, tens of thousands of Republicans abstained from casting their ballots in support of Donald Trump, notwithstanding his status as the presumed GOP nominee.
The former president secured over 786,000 votes, or 83.5 percent of the vote, to win the primary election in the crucial swing state.
Despite halting her presidential campaign following March’s Super Tuesday, Nikki Haley nevertheless managed to garner 16.5% of the vote, which translates to almost 155,000 ballots.
The Context
With wins in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington state, Trump has swept the Republican primary and gained enough delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination in March.
Modest and independent voters, who may prove pivotal in the general election against Joe Biden—and particularly in Pennsylvania, a state that could swing the election—appear to be a challenge for Trump.
What We Know
Pennsylvania is one of the states that could decide the 2024 election, and Trump reinforced his domination in the GOP primary with a landslide victory there.
Even though Trump still received more than 83% of the vote, Haley—who was viewed as a more moderate Republican and was supposed to unite the so-called “Never Trump” faction—seems to be continuing to cause issues for the campaign of the former president, even if she is no longer formally running for office.
Prior to her loss in Vermont, Haley had collected over 2 million votes on Super Tuesday, making her the final formidable opponent for Trump in the Republican primary.
In the GOP primary, Haley garnered hundreds of thousands of votes, including over 26% in Michigan and 18% in Arizona—two crucial swing states.
Multiple polls have shown that a large portion of Haley’s support base will not ultimately vote for Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
The margin of defeat for Trump in Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election was little more than one percent, or 80,555 votes.
We have sent an email request for comment to Trump’s office.
Views
Although Nikki Haley withdrew from the campaign more than a month ago, her polling in Pennsylvania is looking well, according to Anthony Scaramucci, who was Trump’s communications director in the White House.
Trump is completely out of the running for president. Jot it down and give it some thought. Moreover, weep if you’re on his side.
“Nikki Haley did not campaign in Pennsylvania,” stated J.J. Abbott, a former employee of the office of Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf. Early in March, she left.
Dave McCormick and the whole Pennsylvania GOP establishment backed Trump. Nearly 150,000 votes are still in Haley’s favor.
