Nikki Haley wins her first Republican primary victory in Washington DC

Win could provide Haley much-needed jolt of energy two days ahead of Super Tuesday

The nation’s capital delivered Nikki Haley her first victory of the 2024 primary season on Sunday, ending her losing streak and providing her campaign a sliver of hope it desperately needed.

Ms Haley’s defeat of former President Donald Trump marks the first time another Republican has beaten him in any contest since 2016, and is the first sign that the 2024 GOP primary will be anything more than a display of his continued dominance of the Republican electorate.

The race was called around 9.00 when Ms Haley was leading with 62.9 per cent of the vote. Polls closed at the Madison Hotel, DC’s only Republican voting precinct for the 2024 primary, at 7.00 pm.

Her campaign now looks ahead to Super Tuesday and the possibility of peeling off a few states from Mr Trump’s incoming haul; the former president remains widely favoured to win the majority of the more than one-third of all GOP delegates up for grabs this week. He is leading in polls of both California and Texas, the two largest states by far voting on Tuesday.

The former South Carolina governor hosted several events in and around the DC beltway region as she campaigned this past week for not only the Washington DC primary but also neighbouring Virginia’s; northern Virginia in particular, thanks to its urban/suburban makeup and large contingent of federal workers, is thought to be a favourable demographical region for Ms Haley.

Mr Trump also hosted on rally in Richmond on Saturday where the former president once again notably appeared to confuse himself regarding whether Joe Biden or his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, was currently president.