Nikki Haley to drop out of US presidential race, Trump left as major GOP candidate: Report

Nikki Haley, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations, will end her presidential campaign later today, leaving former President Donald Trump as the sole Republican candidate in the US presidential race. Haley is expected to give a speech at 10 am local time in South Carolina state capital Charleston and declare her future plans, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported citing sources.

Haley, 52, lost crucial contests on Super Tueday, following which it was predicted that she may end her 2024 presidential campaign. As per the rules, Super Tuesday is the day in the presidential primary cycle when most states vote. Her exit from the race would make Trump the only GOP candidate. He will face President Joe Biden in November.

As per reports, in the Republican contest, 865 of 2,429 delegates will be up for grabs, including from the two most populous states, California and Texas. Contest-by-contest, the Republican delegate counts for the Super Tuesday votes are: Alabama (50), Alaska (29), Arkansas (40), California (169), Colorado (37), Maine (20), Massachusetts (40), Minnesota (39), North Carolina (74), Oklahoma (43), Tennessee (58), Texas (161), Utah (40), Vermont (17) and Virginia (48).

Haley, who entered the race in February 2023, had drawn support from deep-pocketed donors intent on stopping Trump from winning a third consecutive Republican presidential nomination, particularly after she notched a series of strong performances at debates that Trump opted to skip.

On March 3, she won the Washington, D.C., Republican primary with 62.9% of the vote, versus 33.2% for Trump.

She performed strongly among moderate Republicans and independents. She won unaffiliated voters by a wide margin in New Hampshire and notched almost 40% of the vote in South Carolina. She ultimately failed to pry loose enough conservative voters in the face of Trump's dominance.

To get nominated for the final presidential contest, Trump or Haley need 1,215 delegates during the primaries. At present, Trump has 244 delegates, while Haley has 43.