(Columbia) Former President Donald Trump continued his march toward the Republican Party nomination Saturday, winning the Missouri and Idaho caucuses and sweeping the delegate count at a party convention in Michigan.
Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador and her last major rival, was still looking for her first electoral victory.
The next event on the Republican calendar will take place Sunday in the District of Columbia. Two days later is “Super Tuesday,” where 16 states will hold primaries on what will be the biggest voting day of the year outside of the November election. Trump will be on track to clinch the nomination a few days later.
The difficulties facing Mme Haley’s faces were highlighted in Columbia, Missouri, where Republicans gathered at a church to hold a caucus.
PHOTO SUMMER BALLENTINE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican caucus in Columbia, Missouri.
Seth Christensen took the stage and called on them to vote for Mme Haley. It was not well received.
Another caucus attendee shouted from the audience, “Are you a Republican?” “.
An organizer calmed the crowd and Mr. Christensen finished his speech. Mme Haley won only 37 of the 263 Republicans running in Boone County.
Michigan Republicans, at their convention in Grand Rapids, began awarding 39 of the state Republican Party’s 55 presidential delegates. Trump won all 39 allocated delegates.
However, a significant portion of the party’s base missed the rally due to the lingering effects of a months-long conflict over the party’s leadership.
Trump handily won the Michigan primary last Tuesday with 68% of the vote, compared to 27% for Mme Haley.
Michigan Republicans were forced to split their delegate allocation into two parts after Democrats, who control the state government, moved Michigan into the 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. Once inside, they heard calls from the candidates’ supporters.
“Every 100 days we spend 1 trillion, and the money circulates all over the world. The illegal immigrants are running across the border,” Tom Mendenall, a pro-Trump voter in 2016 and 2020, told the crowd. He later added: “You know where Donald Trump stands on a lot of these issues.” .
Mr Christensen, a 31-year-old Colombian who came to the caucus with his wife and three children aged seven, five and two, then urged Republicans to take a new direction.
“I don’t need to hear about Mr. Trump’s alliances with people of unsavory character, nor do my children,” Mr. Christensen told the room. And if we put this man in power, that’s what we’re going to hear about all the time. And I’m done with that. »
Supporters quickly moved to one side or the other of the room, depending on whether they favored Trump or Mr.me Haley. There was little discussion among caucus participants after choosing 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 into law a 2022 law that, among other things, canceled the presidential primary scheduled for March 12.
Lawmakers failed to reinstate the primaries despite calls to do so from leaders of the state’s Republican and Democratic parties. Democrats will 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 bringing 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 reinstate 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, who volunteers at a voting site near from downtown Boise. “So the caucus is really the best option in order to actually be able to 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 Idaho’s usual Republican primaries go. He predicted that victory would go to Trump.
“It’s a very conservative state, so I think Trump will probably win pretty easily,” Graves said. “And I like it. »
The Democratic caucuses won’t take place until May 23.