Reuters |
According to the first projections from media outlets like CNN and NBC News, the former U.S. representative to the UN won 63% of the votes, compared to Trump's 33% in the Republican Party primaries held this weekend in the capital.
A victory that is merely symbolic because DC only has 19 delegates out of the 2,429 in the country, but it comes before a key date, Super Tuesday, when 16 states will hold primaries on the upcoming March 5th.
As a further peculiarity of the complex system of electing presidential candidates in the United States, the DC primaries have lasted three days, starting last Friday and lasting until this Sunday at 7:00 PM local time, when the polls closed.
Since Haley has won more than 50% of the votes, she is entitled to all 19 delegates, as stipulated by the rules of the DC primaries (each state is different).
With today's 19, the Republican has a total of 43 delegates, still far from the 244 that Trump has after winning the rest of the processes that have been held so far, including the Iowa or Michigan caucuses or the South Carolina primaries.
Each of these internal processes has a proportional number of delegates assigned, who will nominate a candidate in July, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
In total, there are 2,429 delegates available and a candidate must win at least 1,215 to secure the nomination.
The nation's capital, which is one of the most Democratic cities in the United States and a city that Trump often attacks in his speeches, has broken the former president's goal of remaining undefeated, just before "Super Tuesday", when Republicans will choose 865 delegates, 35.6% of the total.