Dem
51
GOP
49
The two dozen or so Republicans who are registered to vote in Washington, DC, went to the polls yesterday and gave Nikki Haley a resounding victory. It's not only her first big win of the campaign, it's her first win of any sort (outside of the non-binding Nevada primary, where she got more votes than any human, but fewer than "none of the above").
OK, maybe there are more than two dozen Republicans who vote in the nation's capital, but not many more. Haley collected 1,274 votes with 100% reporting, which is good enough for 62.8% of the overall total, and entitles her to 19 delegates. Donald Trump got 676 votes, which is 33.3%, and earns him zero delegates. The remaining 4% of the vote went to candidates who have already dropped out, or who we have never heard of (David Stuckenberg, whose "campaign" is apparently still active, got 8 votes, which is 0.4% of the total).
Nominally speaking, it is good news for Haley that she finally won one. That said, the utility of this win is severely limited by two things. First, she got trounced on Saturday in three different states, and she's going to get trounced again in roughly 15 states on Tuesday. When you lose three, win one, then lose 15 more, it's not the win that people remember. Ask the New York Jets if you have any questions on that point.
Haley's second problem is that D.C.'s Republican electorate is as wonky as it gets. Not only is it very small, but it's made up almost entirely of political insiders, with the great majority knowing the candidates and/or their staff personally. It's no doubt great to be embraced by people who are truly in the know, but their political preferences have nothing to do with what Joe Sixpack is looking for.
That said, it is clear once again that the people who govern, even the Republicans, mostly don't like Trump and wish he would go away. They largely can't say that publicly (unless they want to end their careers), and they largely can't act on that instinct (except when they are doing so anonymously, as when casting ballots), but it's clear that the sentiment is there and that it's widespread. That means there's at least some chance that the GOP returns to the control of normal Republicans once Trump exits the political stage, depending on whether or not someone else is able to seize the MAGA throne. (Z)