Former US president Donald Trump dominated the Nevada caucuses, notching another victory as he closes in on the Republican nomination in a state that will be a critical general-election battleground.
News networks, including NBC, ABC and Associated Press called the race for the former president about 40 minutes after caucus sites closed Thursday evening.
Trump will receive all of Nevada’s delegates after rival former UN ambassador Nikki Haley did not participate in the contest, opting instead to participate in the Nevada Republican primary on Tuesday.
Legislators authorised a state-run primary but the Nevada Republicans decided to hold their own caucuses to award delegates.
The untraditional setup sparked criticism from rival campaigns that the process would confuse Republican voters and was done to give Trump an edge.
Biden lashes out over report citing his ‘poor memory’ in documents probe
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Earlier Thursday, Trump swept the US Virgin Islands’ nominating contest, picking up the territory’s four delegates.
Trump is on the cusp of clinching the Republican nomination – a contest he has sought to wrap up quickly so that he can pivot to running against President Joe Biden, even as a series of court cases threaten to keep the former president from the trail.
Speaking to reporters before he left Florida for Nevada, Trump called the Colorado case “more election interference by the Democrats”.
After his win, Trump appeared before supporters in Las Vegas.
“I want to thank the great people of Nevada,” he said to cheers. He called Thursday’s Supreme Court arguments “a beautiful sight to watch”.
The next major Republican contest is on February 24 in South Carolina, the state where Haley was born and served two terms as governor.
A loss there would be a devastating blow to her campaign even though aides have signalled she will stay in the race through Super Tuesday on March 5, when more than a dozen states vote.
Haley trails Trump in her home state by more than 30 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics average of Republican polls.
Haley saw a surge in fundraising in January, raising US$16.5 million, although it is unclear how much of that was raised before Trump’s victories in Iowa and New Hampshire.
A strong showing in South Carolina can keep the cash flowing. In recent days, she has attended high-dollar fundraisers in New York and Florida to court Wall Street executives.
Haley has sought to appeal to moderate voters and independents in hopes of chipping away at Trump’s lead in conservative South Carolina. The state, like New Hampshire, has an open primary system, allowing registered voters to decide in which primary, Republican or Democratic, they will cast a ballot.
Additional reporting by Reuters