Trump continues his triumphant march towards the Republican nomination with victories in Michigan, Idaho and Missouri
The former president is coming into Super Tuesday with a clear advantage over his only rival in the primaries, Nikki Haley, who is holding on thanks to donors who support an alternative
Former U.S. president Donald Trump — the front-runner to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — continues to score points in the race. Despite his wide-ranging legal woes — four criminal cases involving 91 charges in total —, Trump won on Saturday the 39 delegates at stake at a Republican convention in Michigan, where the Republican Party has split into rival factions, unified only by Trump.
Trump also won the Missouri and the Idaho caucuses, where 51 and 32 delegates were up for grabs, respectively. With this, he secured all 122 delegates at stake on Saturday, bringing his total to 244, while his rival, Nikki Haley, remains at 24. A candidate needs to secure 1,215 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination.
The former president’s landslide victory has appeared to calm the Republican Party’s leadership battle in Michigan, where the group has been fighting over where to hold the convention and who would be in control of it. Trump easily defeated Nikki Haley in the Republican primary in that state last Tuesday, securing 12 of the 16 delegates at stake.
Michigan is one of the six swing states that Republicans and Democrats hope to win in the November presidential election. According to the latest polls, Trump is leading in all six over his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden. Given its importance, some factions of the Republican Party feared that the group’s in-fighting would harm their campaign and take away votes that could be crucial in November.
In Michigan, Trump defeated Haley in all 13 districts that took part in the caucuses, according to the Michigan Republican Party. In total, Trump won with almost 1,575 votes, compared to 36 for Haley. Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, called it an “overwhelming, dominating victory.” For this election, Michigan Republicans devised a hybrid nomination system, divided between primaries and caucuses, which took place over two days of voting.
In Idaho, Trump won 84.9%, compared to 13.2% for Haley, taking all 32 delegates at stake. In Missouri, voting was carried out through caucuses. Trump cinched 100% of the 924 delegates who will formally caucus at a state convention on May 4 and will then award Trump the 51 delegates that will attend the Republican National Convention.
With his victories in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, the Virgin Islands, South Carolina and now Michigan and Missouri, Trump is by far the favorite to win the race. Haley is only holding on thanks to the support of donors eager for an alternative to the former president.
His clear advantage over Haley, the last Republican candidate in the running in a primary that began with 14 contenders, brings him one step closer to his party’s nomination for the White House. Trump may even win the nomination before the Republican National Convention, which will take place in July in Milwaukee. Once nominated, not even the legal hurdles he is facing — or the proceedings to disqualify him for his role in the assault on the Capitol, pending resolution — could prevent him from running for office in a repeat of the 2020 showdown against Biden.
The next event on the Republican calendar is the primaries in the District of Columbia, which will take place on Sunday. It is followed by the North Dakota caucuses on Monday. And the following day is Super Tuesday, when 15 states and one territory will vote in both the Republican and Democrat primaries. Trump spent Saturday at rallies in North Carolina, where Haley has also campaigned, and in Virginia.
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