Trump won the North Dakota Republican presidential caucuses on Monday, continuing his winning streak heading into Super Tuesday. The former president beat former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 12 caucus sites. The win puts Trump back on track after Haley won her first primary on Sunday in the District of Columbia.
The White House candidates now focus on Super Tuesday, when results from 16 states and one territory will be announced in the presidential primary's largest delegate sweep. Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are leading their races and likely to win nominations this month. North Dakota allows candidates with 20% of the vote to gain delegates. However, a candidate with 60% of the vote gets all 29 state delegates.
A total of four candidates were on the ballot, including Trump and Haley. Other candidates, Florida businessman David Stuckenberg and Texas businessman and clergyman Ryan Binkley, who recently stopped his campaign, have received minimal notice. On Monday night, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who lost the presidential election in December, spoke for Trump. He backed Trump before Iowa.
“I think we’re going to send a message that is going to be a kickoff to tomorrow, which is President Donald Trump is going to close this out, this is going to be the end of the trail, and we’re going to say we have a nominee, and let’s go after it, and beat Joe Biden in the fall,” Burgum told caucusgoers online.
On Monday, Almont retiree music teacher and librarian Karen Groninger called Trump the finest choice and voted for him. Trump's 2020 speech at the first sitting president's March for Life in Washington, D.C., and immigration policies were referenced by the 76-year-old.
Longtime Bismarck Republican state Sen. Dick Dever supported for Haley but felt she was unlikely to win. The former factory representative, 72, added, “I hear an awful lot of people say that they really liked Trump’s policies but they don’t like the way he conducts himself, and I think he’s gone overboard a bit.
Chair Robert Harms encouraged caucus voters to pay $50 for annual membership, but those who wouldn't were required to sign a promise to join with the party. ND is the only state without voter registration. Caucuses voters had to show a driver's license. Only in-person voting on hand-counted printed ballots was allowed.
A North Dakota delegate helped Trump win the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. In 2016 and 2020, he won 63% and 65% of North Dakota's three electoral college votes. In 2017, Trump visited Bismarck and Mandan to discuss tax reform, and in 2018, he campaigned twice in Fargo for Republican Kevin Cramer's Senate victory over Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.
North Dakota's Democratic-NPL Party is hosting a presidential primary via mail from Feb. 20 to March 30, with restricted in-person voting for Indian reserve residents. Representative Dean Phillips, Biden, and six others are running. A third party will tally Fargo ballots on March 30 and post results on the party's website. Sen. Bernie Sanders won 2016 and 2020 Democratic caucuses.
stay turned for development