From CNN's Eric Bradner, Kyung Lah and Anna-Maja Rappard
Lee Hoffman, right, tapes a sign for the Elko County Republican Party on the window of a building owned by Lina Blohm, left, on Saturday, December 16, 2023, in Elko, Nevada. Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP
Donald Trump is certain to win Nevada’s Republican presidential delegates — but some voters who want to back the former president are confused about why they can’t find him on their ballots.
It’s the result of a dueling 2024 system in which the Silver State will hold two GOP contests within three days: the state government-run primary on February 6, where Trump isn’t on the ballot and no delegates are at stake, and the Nevada Republican Party-run caucuses on February 8, where the former president faces no serious opposition to win the state’s 26 delegates.
What’s confounding some voters who are casting early primary ballots is that the choices in the two elections are entirely different.
Trump is only participating in the caucuses and thus isn’t on primary ballots. Meanwhile, his lone remaining major 2024 GOP rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, is on the primary ballot and isn’t participating in the caucuses.
“In your state, you have both a primary and you have a caucus. Don’t worry about the primary, just do the caucus thing,” Trump told attendees at a Las Vegas rally last month.
However, some Trump supporters who weren’t aware of the distinction said they were baffled.
“I was like, why is the guy that I want to vote for not on this thing?” said Leslie Miller, one of many waiting in line for his recent rally there.
“It’s gonna be very confusing for people. It was for me,” said Angela Barsekian, a grandmother of two who said she backed Trump in the previous two presidential elections.
Analysis: Haley's voters could decide Biden's fate in December. Here's how
From CNN's Ronald Brownstein
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Monday. Matt Kelley/AP
As the South Carolina Republican primary approaches, the evidence is growing that Nikki Haley’s coalition is almost certainly not large enough to deny Donald Trump the GOP presidential nomination.
But evidence is also accumulating that her coalition is more than large enough to deny Trump the White House in a general election if her voters remain as alienated from him as they now say they are.
The support for Haley in the early GOP contests has mapped, probably more precisely than ever before, the segments of the Republican electorate most deeply disaffected with Trump.
In a possible rematch with Trump this fall, President Joe Biden will likely need to attract crossover support from a significant share of those ordinarily Republican-leaning voters to overcome the towering discontent evident in polls about his own performance.
Key things to know about Tuesday's Nevada primaries — and why there are two GOP contests this week
From CNN's Eric Bradner
President Joe Biden is poised to win delegates in the Nevada presidential primary Tuesday as he marches toward the Democratic nomination. But former President Donald Trump will have to wait until Thursday, when the state Republican Party holds its caucuses.
While there will be a GOP primary Tuesday, Republicans have chosen to award their delegates via the caucuses, and the dueling contests have caused some confusion among Nevada voters.
What’s clear, though, is that Biden and Trump face only nominal opposition, and both are expected to end the week winners of Nevada delegates to their parties’ nominating conventions. For Biden, Tuesday’s Silver State primary comes three days after he notched his first official victory of the 2024 nominating race in the South Carolina primary.
Nevada’s first-in-the-West contest is now second on the Democratic calendar after the party demoted Iowa and New Hampshire — a change meant to ensure a diverse electorate weighs in at the start of Democrats’ presidential nominating battle.
On the Democratic primary ballot, Biden faces nominal opposition from a dozen candidates, including author Marianne Williamson. Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, the president’s other best-known Democratic challenger, is not on the ballot, having entered the race after the state’s October 16 filing deadline had passed.
Republicans, meanwhile, are ignoring the outcome of Tuesday’s primary — one taking place without Trump on the ballot. Instead, the state GOP opted to award its delegates to the winner of party-run caucuses being held Thursday evening.
The poll highlights voters’ conflicted feelings about the leading candidates. Broad majorities of Democrats and Republicans say they’d be satisfied if their party’s candidate won such a rematch. Still, a sizable minority of voters express a desire for another option if Biden and Trump are the nominees.
Overall, 49% of registered voters say they would back Trump if an election between the two were held today, while 45% support Biden and 5% say they’d vote for someone else.
Those numbers are identical to CNN polling on the contest in the fall, and the demographic dynamics of the contest appear to be steady – with a wide education gap among the most notable demographic divides, and smaller differences by age or race than in other recent presidential elections.
President Joe Biden is seeking to turn out his base in battleground Nevada and mobilize the state’s diverse coalition as he prepares for a possible rematch with former President Donald Trump in November. Trump is only participating in the caucuses and isn’t on the primary ballots.
Trump's lone remaining major GOP rival, Nikki Haley, is on the primary ballot and isn’t participating in the caucuses. Nevada GOP rules prevented candidates from participating in both contests, but eligible voters can vote in both.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court said Tuesday that Trump is not immune from prosecution for alleged crimes he committed during his presidency, flatly rejecting arguments that he shouldn't have to go on trial on federal election subversion charges.
Lee Hoffman, right, tapes a sign for the Elko County Republican Party on the window of a building owned by Lina Blohm, left, on Saturday, December 16, 2023, in Elko, Nevada. Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP
Donald Trump is certain to win Nevada’s Republican presidential delegates — but some voters who want to back the former president are confused about why they can’t find him on their ballots.
It’s the result of a dueling 2024 system in which the Silver State will hold two GOP contests within three days: the state government-run primary on February 6, where Trump isn’t on the ballot and no delegates are at stake, and the Nevada Republican Party-run caucuses on February 8, where the former president faces no serious opposition to win the state’s 26 delegates.
What’s confounding some voters who are casting early primary ballots is that the choices in the two elections are entirely different.
Trump is only participating in the caucuses and thus isn’t on primary ballots. Meanwhile, his lone remaining major 2024 GOP rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, is on the primary ballot and isn’t participating in the caucuses.
“In your state, you have both a primary and you have a caucus. Don’t worry about the primary, just do the caucus thing,” Trump told attendees at a Las Vegas rally last month.
However, some Trump supporters who weren’t aware of the distinction said they were baffled.
“I was like, why is the guy that I want to vote for not on this thing?” said Leslie Miller, one of many waiting in line for his recent rally there.
“It’s gonna be very confusing for people. It was for me,” said Angela Barsekian, a grandmother of two who said she backed Trump in the previous two presidential elections.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Monday. Matt Kelley/AP
As the South Carolina Republican primary approaches, the evidence is growing that Nikki Haley’s coalition is almost certainly not large enough to deny Donald Trump the GOP presidential nomination.
But evidence is also accumulating that her coalition is more than large enough to deny Trump the White House in a general election if her voters remain as alienated from him as they now say they are.
The support for Haley in the early GOP contests has mapped, probably more precisely than ever before, the segments of the Republican electorate most deeply disaffected with Trump.
In a possible rematch with Trump this fall, President Joe Biden will likely need to attract crossover support from a significant share of those ordinarily Republican-leaning voters to overcome the towering discontent evident in polls about his own performance.
President Joe Biden is poised to win delegates in the Nevada presidential primary Tuesday as he marches toward the Democratic nomination. But former President Donald Trump will have to wait until Thursday, when the state Republican Party holds its caucuses.
While there will be a GOP primary Tuesday, Republicans have chosen to award their delegates via the caucuses, and the dueling contests have caused some confusion among Nevada voters.
What’s clear, though, is that Biden and Trump face only nominal opposition, and both are expected to end the week winners of Nevada delegates to their parties’ nominating conventions. For Biden, Tuesday’s Silver State primary comes three days after he notched his first official victory of the 2024 nominating race in the South Carolina primary.
Nevada’s first-in-the-West contest is now second on the Democratic calendar after the party demoted Iowa and New Hampshire — a change meant to ensure a diverse electorate weighs in at the start of Democrats’ presidential nominating battle.
On the Democratic primary ballot, Biden faces nominal opposition from a dozen candidates, including author Marianne Williamson. Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, the president’s other best-known Democratic challenger, is not on the ballot, having entered the race after the state’s October 16 filing deadline had passed.
Republicans, meanwhile, are ignoring the outcome of Tuesday’s primary — one taking place without Trump on the ballot. Instead, the state GOP opted to award its delegates to the winner of party-run caucuses being held Thursday evening.
The poll highlights voters’ conflicted feelings about the leading candidates. Broad majorities of Democrats and Republicans say they’d be satisfied if their party’s candidate won such a rematch. Still, a sizable minority of voters express a desire for another option if Biden and Trump are the nominees.
Overall, 49% of registered voters say they would back Trump if an election between the two were held today, while 45% support Biden and 5% say they’d vote for someone else.
Those numbers are identical to CNN polling on the contest in the fall, and the demographic dynamics of the contest appear to be steady – with a wide education gap among the most notable demographic divides, and smaller differences by age or race than in other recent presidential elections.
