Former President Donald Trump, Republican favorite in the November presidential elections, continues to score points in the race. Despite the vast judicial offensive he faces – four criminal proceedings for which he is accused of 91 charges in total -, Trump has won this Saturday the 39 delegates at stake at a Republican convention in Michigan, a state where the formation is It has split into rival factions while the former president secures control of the formation. Trump's landslide victory therefore appears to silence the political leadership battle in Michigan, with disputes over where the convention would be held and who would be in charge. Trump already easily defeated Nikki Haley in the Republican primary in that state last Tuesday, securing 12 of the 16 delegates at stake.
Michigan is, in addition, a key state in the final result of November, one of the six hinge or swing states – in all of them Trump has an advantage over his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, according to the latest polls -, so some Factions of the party feared that internal dissension would harm his campaign and take away votes that could be crucial in November. Furthermore, according to the projections of the demoscopic Edison Research, the former president also won the Missouri Republican caucus this Saturday, so he continues his triumphant walk through the polls with eight months left until the elections. Republicans also hold caucuses today in Idaho, one of the last races in which Haley could alter the course of the race before Super Tuesday, next March 5. According to the first vote projections, Haley has not been able to beat Trump in Idaho either.
In Michigan, Trump defeated Haley in all 13 districts that participated in the nominating caucuses, according to the state Republican Party. In total, Trump won with almost 1,575 votes to just 36 for Haley. Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, called it an “overwhelming and dominant victory.” For this election cycle, Michigan Republicans devised a hybrid nomination system, divided between primaries and caucuses, hence the two days of voting.
With his victories in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, the Virgin Islands, South Carolina and now Michigan and Missouri, Trump is by far the favorite in the race, and Haley is 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 very crowded, brings him one step closer to his party's nomination for the White House, which could be imminent, even before the theoretical coronation in the national convention, to be held in July in Milwaukee. Once invested, not even the judicial setbacks he faces – or even the disqualification proceedings initiated by three states for his role in the assault on the Capitol, pending resolution – could prevent him from running for office in a repeat of his struggle for 2020 with Biden.
Trump's party will also compete in the presidential primaries this Sunday in Washington DC, while on Monday it will be the turn of the caucuses in North Dakota. The two parties in contention, the Republican and the Democratic, go to the polls on Tuesday on the election day par excellence of the campaign, the so-called Super Tuesday, with voting of different types (primaries and caucuses) in 15 states and one territory. . Trump has dedicated Saturday to various rallies in North Carolina, where he has also campaigned for Haley, and Virginia.
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