WASHINGTON—The Republican primary in the nation’s capital represents presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s best chance to secure her first primary victory.
The district has 19 delegates up for grabs in a winner-take-all race. Ms. Haley held a rally on the first day of the primary on March 1 at the Madison Hotel, the only location where D.C. Republicans could cast their votes. The polls will close on March 3.
The 2020 Republican primary here was uncontested, but in 2016, former president Donald Trump finished in a distant third behind Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Over 200 attendees packed the hotel room, showing their support for a candidate they describe as “level-headed,” “smart,” and “a good alternative.”
The room was about a third of the size of the room hosting the Northern Virginia rally the night before. D.C. has about 23,000 registered Republicans. The Republican primaries in the city tend to run with low turnouts, for example, over 2,800 votes in 2016 and about 5,100 votes in 2012.
In the heavily Democratic district, the D.C. GOP chair Patrick Mara used the opening speech to recruit rally participants to “be active and engaged with our party.”
Ms. Haley began her speech by advocating for a fiscally responsible government and moved on to attack President Trump.
“All he’s doing is talking about himself. And that’s the problem. It’s not about him; it’s about the American people,” she said, and the audience applauded.
“I think I’ve made it pretty clear: I’m not trying to be vice president. I think I’ve made it pretty clear,” she added later, and the room laughed. A person shouted, “Don’t!”
Ms. Haley went on, “This is not about my political future, or I would have been out a long time ago. The reason I’m doing this is for my kids, your kids, and the younger generation.”
Unlike in Northern Virginia the night before, Ms. Haley didn’t mention the abortion issue.
‘Fresh Blood and Less Drama’
Georgiana Paul, 83, and a registered Republican, voted for Ms. Haley before the March 1 event. Originally from South Carolina, she has lived in D.C. for 63 years.“I’m looking for some fresh blood and less drama,” she told The Epoch Times.
“I just don’t approve of the other person’s lifestyle. And I think she’s an honest, thoughtful, caring person. Smart. I think she’d be a good alternative,” she spoke of Ms. Haley’s main rival President Trump.
She said she was “disappointed” at the South Carolina Republican primary results. She still has family there, “I’m not quite sure why the tide turned for her except that I think the other people made a concerted effort to invade the state.”
To her, Ms. Haley has a fair chance to win the D.C. primary, “I think it’ll be close, but I think there are a lot of people who would like a change, another option.”
She said Ms. Haley would need “luck” to get the Republican presidential nomination.
Jack Tompkins, a 19-year-old college student, also voted for Ms. Haley before the rally. Currently a politics major at the Washington and Lee University in Virginia, he’s back on break from school to his home in northwestern D.C.
During a brief chat after her speech, Ms. Haley congratulated him for casting his first-ever election vote. He said her encouragement was “a very important message” for young moderate Republicans, a group often overlooked because “a lot of people my age tend to go one of the extremes.”
“There’s definitely that presence of younger, moderate Republicans. They just need someone to follow or to speak for them,” Mr. Tompkins told The Epoch Times.
He added that Ms. Haley’s experience at the United Nations would be “very valuable in the White House.”
He said a Haley D.C. primary victory would require “a massive rallying of moderate Republican voters” and flipped former Trump voters.
He knows that Ms. Haley may withdraw her presidential bid after Super Tuesday but hopes that she can fight on.
‘Positive’ Energy Field for Change
The D.C. event also attracted Ms. Haley’s supporters from nearby Virginia and Maryland locations.Parker Boggs, a 22-year-old senior James Madison University in Virginia, said he voted for President Trump in 2020. He would support any Republican nominee in 2024 but prefers Ms. Haley. He had voted for her in the Virginia primary during early voting.
He described the energy at Ms. Haley’s event as “always positive” and “superb.” A political science major, he said he had been to multiple Trump and Haley rallies, yet the energy at Haley rallies was “something I’ve never seen with any political campaigns.”
“It’s always, ‘We’re just ready for a new change.’ It’s just, ‘there’s hope in the future for someone to actually come in and make that change for America,’” Mr. Boggs told The Epoch Times.
“That’s what I saw last night, and today I had the same exact energy of ‘I actually want some change in America.’” He attended Ms. Haley’s event in northern Virginia on Feb. 29 and in D.C. on March 1.
Gracita Novak, a registered Republican from Montgomery County, Maryland, drove to D.C. to see Ms. Haley in person. The Republican primary in her state is scheduled for May 14.
She said her reason to support Ms. Haley was “very simple because she’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
“I want someone that can work at all levels, Democrats, Republicans,” she told The Epoch Times. “I’d like everyone to be able to play in the same playground, understand, agree to disagree, but in a cohesive way.”
To Ms. Novak, Ms. Haley is almost a third-party candidate because of her position on the political spectrum pinned by the two presumptive nominees.
“I hope she keeps fighting,” Ms. Novak said. “I think it shows for the women and the young girls that, you know, she’s not a pushover, and she will go on.”
