On Feb. 6, 2024, the Republican presidential primary election results for Nevada started coming in, and X (formerly Twitter) was quickly flooded with posts claiming that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had embarrassingly lost to a Nevada ballot option: "None of These Candidates."
Voters in the Nevada GOP Primary were presented with three choices: Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, and “none of these candidates.”
And… well… pic.twitter.com/TXIH9j2fHM
— Charlotte Clymer ?? (@cmclymer) February 7, 2024
It's true that Voters were given the option to select the option "None of These Candidates," and 63.2% of voters did. Nikki Haley received only 30.5%, while former U.S. President Donald Trump opted to compete in the Feb. 8 Nevada caucuses instead of the presidential primary.
Although Trump's campaign encouraged voters to only focus on the Feb. 8 caucuses, many showed their support by voting for "None of These Candidates" in order to express displeasure with the remaining choices.
The results for all candidates were as follows, as reported by AP.
(Image via AP)
Jon Ralston, the editor of The Nevada Independent and longtime political commentator, tweeted on the evening of Feb. 6:
One of the most embarrassing things I have seen in all my years of covering politics. “Major” presidential candidate loses to None of these Candidates.
Might as well drop out.
Seriously. https://t.co/7kyQhp3kp0
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) February 7, 2024
"Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots, the house wins. We didn't bother to play a game rigged for Trump," Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokesperson for Haley, responded to the results in a statement. "We're full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond."
Although they are focused on South Carolina – where Haley served as state governor 2011 to 2017 – Trump continues to lead the state by a wide margin compared to Haley, according to the Monmouth University-Washington Post Poll published on Feb. 1.
(Image via Monmouth University and the Washington Post)
The option to vote for "None of These Candidates" has been in place in Nevada since 1975. The state only allows votes for specifically named candidates to count toward an official election result, so Haley will be considered the winner for technical purposes. Therefore, the loss is more symbolic, than anything, of her unpopularity with GOP voters compared to Trump.
Continue following our coverage of the 2024 Presidential race here.