Donald Trump’s decisive showing on Tuesday — he won 14 of the 15 contests and 722 delegates — wasn’t surprising. But, at the start of 2023, this outcome was far from a given. At this point in 2023, polling showed Trump polling at just 46% while an ascendent and well-funded Florida governor looked well-positioned to make the race for the nomination a serious contest.
A year later, Ron DeSantis is long gone, and Trump’s lone remaining opponent, Nikki Haley, only managed to pick up 46 delegates and one primary state victory (Vermont).
Exit polls in North Carolina and Virginia confirmed a long-standing pattern of Trump running up the score among Republican and non-college voters, but narrowly winning, or losing, college educated and independent voters to Haley.
Haley is expected to announce this morning that she is dropping out of the race, but will reportedly not immediately endorse the former president, telling him that he has to earn over the trust of those who supported her during the primary campaign.
While it’s true that Trump’s toxicity in the suburbs is a
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The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, Governors and President as well as American political trends.
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