By Mary Lou Masters
Daily Caller News Foundation
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — former President Donald Trump’s last remaining rival for the GOP nomination — suspended her 2024 campaign on Wednesday morning after losing a majority of Super Tuesday states.
After staying in the race for over a year, and notching only two primary wins in Washington, D.C., and Vermont, Haley is scheduled to call it quits during a speech in Charleston, South Carolina, according to multiple outlets. The former governor’s decision will make Trump the presumptive party nominee to take on President Joe Biden in November.
Haley also did not immediately endorse Trump.
Nikki Haley drops out of race and skips endorsement for Trump: “I wish him well..” pic.twitter.com/venOaCOVpF
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 6, 2024
The former governor failed to win any of the early nominating states, where she notched third place in Iowa, second place in New Hampshire and her home state of South Carolina, and came behind the “None of These Candidates” option in the Nevada primary, which did not count for delegates. The Republican also lost the Michigan primary and caucus to Trump, as well as the contests in Idaho and Missouri.
Trump also beat Haley 84.6% to 14.2% in the North Dakota caucus on Monday, and swept nearly all of the Super Tuesday contests that were called the following day. The former governor won the blue state of Vermont 49.9% to 45.9%.
Donald Trump gives his victory speech: “They call it Super Tuesday for a reason. This is a big one” pic.twitter.com/Z9OHHI5LjC
— WND News (@worldnetdaily) March 6, 2024
The former governor had repeatedly insisted on staying in the race to give Republican primary voters an option other than Trump despite her lack of wins and lagging poll numbers.
The RealClearPolitics (RCP) average for a 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between Feb. 13 and Feb. 28, indicates Trump was leading Haley by 63 points.
Haley largely focused her campaign on economic and foreign policy, frequently citing her records as both South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador under the Trump administration. Her candidacy attracted many liberal voters and Democratic donors as they looked for an alternative to both Trump and Biden.
Laura Ingraham of Fox News on Trump’s Super Tuesday path to reelection: “This could be the greatest political comeback story of all time” #SuperTuesday @IngrahamAngle pic.twitter.com/ggI8mgn5b4
— WND News (@worldnetdaily) March 6, 2024
The Republican is the final major GOP presidential candidate to drop out of the race aside from Trump, following Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, Michigan businessman Perry Johnson, radio personality Larry Elder and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
Many of the 2024 hopefuls have since thrown their support behind Trump, except for Christie, Pence, Hurd and Hutchinson. Hurd and Hutchinson endorsed Haley for president.
Trump is currently leading Biden for a potential 2024 rematch by 2.3 points in the RCP average.
Haley’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!