Nikki Haley to exit US presidential race
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
More news: Former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, will pull out of the race for the US election, following sweeping defeats in Super Tuesday’s Republican primaries by Donald Trump.
By midnight Wednesday, Trump had secured 995 of the required 1,215 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination, while Nikki Haley had secured just 89. Joe Biden had received 1,497 of the 1,968 delegates needed for Democrat nomination.
According to sources cited by the Associated Press, Haley is not planning to endorse Trump when she makes an official announcement to suspend her campaign, but will encourage him to earn the support of the moderate Republican coalition and independent voters who had supported her.
Trump is now on the brink of securing enough delegates to win the Republican presidential nomination, setting up the US election for a head-to-head race with Joe Biden, a repeat of the 2020 US election.
Super Tuesday cements Biden-Trump rematch
More news: Super Tuesday votes have largely cemented a Joe Biden and Donald Trump rematch for the 2024 US presidential election, although their nominations are not yet official.
Trump won all but one of the Republican contests on Super Tuesday, with Nikki Haley winning Vermont. His wins included key states California, which has 169 delegates on offer, and Texas, which has 103 delegates on offer.
The other states where Trump won today were Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.
As at 4:10pm AEDT, Trump had 567 delegates out of 1,215 needed for the Republican nomination.
Similarly, Biden won all but one of today's Democratic contests.
The president won in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. He lost the US territory of American Samoa to Jason Palmer.
As at 4:10pm AEST, Biden had 593 delegates out of 1,968 needed for the nomination.
Trump and Biden closer to election rematch with primary wins
The news: US president Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump are both a major step closer to securing their party’s nominations for the 2024 presidential election, as the two head for comfortable wins in the 16 states and one territory holding Super Tuesday primaries.
The numbers: Voters in 15 states – Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia – cast their ballots in the Republican presidential primary on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).
Iowa and all those states except Alaska held their Democratic primary contests too, while the US territory of American Samoa simultaneously held its Democratic caucus.
The context: By 2pm AEDT, the Associated Press had called Biden victories in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Vermont, as well as Massachusetts and Tennessee where the president had no challengers on the ballot.
However, Biden was defeated by Jason Palmer in American Samoa, a US territory in the South Pacific.
Meanwhile, Republican front-runner Donald Trump gained wins in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Full results will take a few more hours, with voting in Alaska open until 4pm AEDT.
Primaries will continue until June, with the next Democratic contest taking place in Hawaii on Thursday AEDT and a Republican caucus in American Samoa on 8 March.
Neither Biden or Trump will be declared the “presumptive nominee” tonight – Trump will not have enough delegates until 12 March, and Biden will have to wait until 19 March.
The source: Associated Press
