Republican front-runner Donald Trump secured another victory in the U.S. Virgin Islands caucuses Thursday night, clinching his third straight primary victory over 2024 rival Nikki Haley.
The former president received 73.98% of the vote, while Haley received 26.02%.
The USVI caucuses will elect four delegates, and the results will be tallied hours before Nevada, which technically puts it in third place behind Iowa and New Hampshire.
In addition to Haley and Trump, the ranked voting participants include former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, businessman Perry Johnson, and biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy. Other candidates who did not withdraw were also included.
Trump and Haley have been vying for victory in the islands, sending surrogates and participating in video messages aimed at swaying the Republican Party.
Neither reached the U.S. territory in the Caribbean, but used other methods to reach voters.
Thursday morning, President Trump released a video message He called on the USVI to “go out and caucus” and predicted he would “take it all.”
President Trump said in a video message: “It looks like we’re all but certain to win the Republican nomination. That’s the way it should be.”
Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida also supported the former president, who traveled to Nevada on Thursday night instead of starting the Silver State’s 26-member caucus. I was in a position to do so.
Haley had participated in several Zoom calls with Island Republicans in the lead-up to the caucuses and had dispatched Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) to represent her in person.
The former U.N. ambassador relied on his foreign policy experience in his pitch to the islands, which the USVI Republican Party claims are surrounded by Chinese influence.
The USVI Republican Party has rescheduled its caucus for the 2024 election to give it more of a say in the presidential process, as the U.S. territory will not vote in the general election.
The Republican National Committee punished the date change by reducing the number of delegates from nine to four.
Gordon Ackley, Chairman of the Virgin Islands Republican Party, said: “Coming third in the nation in a fraud-free caucus using ranked-choice voting provides a fair and level playing field for all candidates. “This has brought unprecedented attention to the islands.” “The Virgin Islands will determine the trajectory of the Republican nomination.”
Trump is the only top Republican candidate participating in the Nevada caucuses and is likely to lead by a wide margin when results are tallied later Thursday.
Haley entered the February 6 Nevada primary and “didn’t lose to any of these candidates,” despite being the only big-name Republican on the ballot.
After Thursday, Trump and Haley will next face off in South Carolina. Polls show the former president leading the former South Carolina governor by 27 points, but Haley insists it’s “just the beginning” in her home state.
