By Nathan Worcester of Epoch Times
Former President Donald J. Trump has soundly defeated former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in Michigan’s Feb. 27 Republican presidential primary, notching his sixth-straight primary victory as he marches towards the GOP nomination.
The Associated Press called the race for Trump right after the last polls closed at 9 p.m. ET.
The result is another blow to Ms. Haley, coming days after a double-digit defeat in her home state of South Carolina. Despite this, she has vowed to stay on through Super Tuesday on March 5, when numerous delegate-heavy states will hold their primaries.
Ms. Haley campaigned in Michigan on Sunday and Monday and was in Colorado on Feb. 27, part of a multi-day tour ahead of Super Tuesday.
The former United Nations ambassador faces very challenging delegate math as Super Tuesday approaches, suggesting her time in the race is finite.
President Trump thanked the Michigan GOP after the race was called for him.
“I’m so proud of the results because they’re far greater than anticipated,” the former president said in remarks to the state’s GOP.
“We win Michigan; we win the whole thing,” said.
Ms. Haley’s campaign, meanwhile, cast the results as a “warning sign” for President Trump.
“Joe Biden is losing about 20 percent of the Democratic vote today, and many say it’s a sign of his weakness in November. Donald Trump is losing about 35 percent of the vote. That’s a flashing warning sign for Trump in November,” campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement.
While 16 Michigan delegates to the Republican National Convention were allocated based on the primary results, the majority—39—of the state’s 55 delegates will be awarded as a result of caucusing on March 2.
The main event will be in Grand Rapids, where former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) will oversee a convention at which party insiders will vote on how to divvy up the remaining delegates.
Yet, while Mr. Hoekstra has the backing of President Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC), his accession to leader of the Michigan GOP has not been universally recognized by Republicans in the state.
Many in the party maintain that Kristina Karamo was improperly removed from her role as state GOP chairwoman. She’s staging her own convention in Detroit.
An ongoing lawsuit against Ms. Karamo could end the standoff before March 2. On election day itself, the judge in the case ruled that her ouster from the leadership role was legal.
Meanwhile, President Biden handily won the Democratic presidential primary in the state, garnering 78.6 percent of the vote.
But a campaign from Israel-Gaza ceasefire activists to get Democrats to select “uncommitted” from the ballot in that primary got some results. Sixteen percent of votes were for the “uncommitted” option, signaling dissension in Democratic ranks over the Middle Eastern conflict.
While Israel-Gaza is an electoral sore point for everywhere, it’s particularly sensitive in Michigan, which has large Arab Christian and Arab Muslim communities.
Former Rep. Justin Amash (L-Mich.), an Arab Christian and former Republican who has recently emerged as a critic of President Biden after supporting President Trump’s first impeachment while in office, recently mourned the death of his second cousin George as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza.
Michiganders Back Trump
President Trump’s supporters in the state include Joe Bancroft, who was leaving a polling place at a library in Delta Charter Township when he spoke with The Epoch Times.
“He’s not a perfect person. Okay. And he is a strong person. And he’s rough around the edges. But here’s the thing. Who do you want to lead this country?” he said.
His wife, by contrast, voted for President Biden.
“Hell no,” she said when asked if she had voted for President Trump.
At an early voting site in Southgate, Michigan, downriver from Detroit, the Sikorskis—Douglas and his wife Sandy—formed a united front for President Trump.
“The RNC should be devoting all the funds to President Trump,” Mr. Sikorski told The Epoch Times on Feb. 25, the last day of early voting.
When asked if that priority could hinder important spending on other Republican races, the couple clarified that they felt the RNC could be trusted to use its resources more intelligently under new leadership—”Now that Ronna Romney [McDaniel]’s out,” Ms. Sikorski said.
Ms. Romney McDaniel announced her resignation as RNC chairwoman on Feb. 26, saying she would leave after Super Tuesday.
President Trump has endorsed Michael Whatley, chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, as Ms. Romney McDaniel’s replacement. He hopes to replace RNC co-chair Drew McKissick, who is also resigning, with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump.
“We need to have the biggest legal ballot harvesting operation this country has ever seen,” Ms. Trump told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview on Feb. 21, before she spoke at a campaign stop in South Carolina.
The Sikorskis said they supported President Trump from the very beginning.
President Trump’s narrow victory in Michigan in 2016 was instrumental in vaulting him to the Oval Office.
Most recent polling shows President Trump ahead of President Biden in Michigan.
