Nevada’s presidential primary on Tuesday produced one result many expected: President Joe Biden was the runaway winner against a noncompetitive field.
But the primary also produced a result that some might consider surprising: Nikki Haley, the top Republican participating in the primary, received fewer votes than “none of these,” which the Associated Press tonight declared as top vote-getter.
Initial results released Tuesday after the polls closed showed Biden carrying 90% of the Democratic vote statewide to propel him to his fourth straight win in the nominating cycle. He previously won in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and is well on his way to the general election ballot as the Democratic nominee.
“Nevada Democrats represent the backbone of our nation: the union workers who built the middle class, immigrants who came here in search of opportunity, and families of all stripes who deserve dignity, personal freedom, and a fair shot at the American dream," Biden's campaign said in a statement. "Tonight they showed us all: we still believe in an America where we treat everybody with honesty, decency, dignity, and respect. Where we leave nobody behind. I am so grateful for their support."
Haley, the former United States Ambassador, had fewer votes than "none of these," which some Republican voters used to show symbolic support for former President Donald Trump, who was not on the ballot. Haley is the first presidential candidate from either party to lose a race to “none of these candidates” since that option was introduced in Nevada in 1975.
Trump, the front runner to advance to the general election, was forced by his party to not be on the primary ballot as he's only running in Thursday's caucus, which the party is using to determine delegates for the state.
Some Republicans, including Gov. Joe Lombardo, said they would mark “none of these candidates” and later support Trump on Thursday in the “First in the West Caucus."
Las Vegans Barbara and Michael Baker said while leaving the Desert Breeze Community Center earlier today that they voted in the Republican primary for “none of these candidates” as a sign of support for Trump.
“We plan on Trump winning this election so we can get our country back,” Barbara Baker said.
Nevada Republican Party rules prevented candidates from being part of both nominating contests.
The GOP-led caucus has no oversight from state and county election officials. The state party is awarding its delegates for the Republican National Convention July 15-18 in Milwaukee based on caucus results.
"Donald Trump is trying to divide us, not unite us; drag us back to the past, not lead us to the future," Biden's campaign stated.
“I want to thank the voters of Nevada for sending me and Kamala Harris to the White House four years ago, and for setting us one step further on that same path again tonight. We must organize, mobilize, and vote. Because one day, when we look back, we’ll be able to say, when American democracy was a risk, we saved it — together.”
Haley did not campaign in Nevada in the weeks leading up to the primary. Her campaign wrote off the results.
“Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots the house wins," spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said. "We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump. We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond.”
Washoe County Republican Party Chair Bruce Parks, who pushed for the GOP to hold caucuses, said that he told voters who called his office — and Trump supporters — to participate in the primary by voting for “none of these candidates” over Haley.
“They basically told us they don’t care about us,” Parks said in an interview after the race was called. “By marking ‘none of these candidates,’ we respond in kind — we don’t care about you either.”
Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, a Trump ally who faces state charges for serving as a so-called “fake elector” on the former president’s behalf, said he left it to each county GOP chairman to decide if they wanted to promote “none of these candidates.” He said Haley's seeming disrespect of Nevada voters was “reciprocated” with the results.
At the time the race was called by the AP, “None of these candidates” led the Republican statewide vote with about 60%. Haley trailed with 33%.
For Haley to overcome “None of these candidates” and take the lead, she would have needed to win by an overwhelming margin in the ballots left to be counted. But she wasn’t getting that level of support anywhere in the state. In fact, in the county where she was doing best, she wasn’t ahead — she trailed “None of these candidates” by double digits in Washoe County.
In Clark County, the initial 32,658 Republican votes nearly mirrored the rest of the state, with 63.1% or 20,623 voters choosing "none of these" and 30% or 9,805 voters picking Haley. The next highest vote-getter was former Vice President Mike Pence with 4.2%.
“Congrats to Nikki Haley on being the second choice of Nevadans to ‘no one’ and winning a grand total of zero delegates — and our apologies to Donald Trump, who will win the same number of electoral votes in Nevada this November," said Alex Floyd, with the Democratic National Committee in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.