Nevada and US Virgin Islands holding simultaneous 2024 caucuses: What to know
Written by ABC AUDIO on February 9, 2024
(WASHINGTON) — Both Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands are holding their 2024 Republican presidential caucuses on Thursday.
Here’s what to know:
Nevada caucuses
Former President Donald Trump is the only major candidate running in the caucuses and is expected to sweep all 26 party delegates.
Trump’s remaining notable rival for the Republican nomination, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, is not competing in the caucuses — claiming it was “rigged,” which Nevada Republicans deny.
Instead, Haley ran in the state’s new Republican primary but lost by a huge margin to the quirky option “none of these candidates.”
Because of a dispute over keeping the caucuses rather than switching to the new primary, no delegates were awarded in the latter contest.
Thursday’s Republican caucuses will be held between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. local time across more than 1,500 precincts.
Voters can simply cast their vote and leave instead of listening or participating in speeches or other party matters. Only members of the Republican Party can participate.
Trump and pastor Ryan Binkley are the only ones competing, after Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie and Doug Burgum all ended their own campaigns.
U.S. Virgin Islands caucuses
The U.S. Virgin Islands, as a territory, doesn’t get to vote in the 2024 presidential election but its residents do get to help decide the presidential nominees.
The presidential caucuses will be held on Thursday for Republicans and then on June 8 for Democrats.
Virgin Island Republicans will use ranked-choice voting, and a candidate receiving more than 50% of the vote will receive all of the available delegates.
Both Haley and Trump are on the ballot on Thursday, and Haley has made a point of speaking virtually with Republicans there.
The Virgin Islands have 12 delegate votes to award to Democrats and four to award to Republicans.
The GOP’s caucus date was moved up and cut into the early nominating calendar set by the national party, triggering a penalty — reducing the number of delegates from nine to four.
However, according to Virgin Islands GOP Executive Director Dennis Lennox, the local party plans to allocate nine delegates on Thursday night and hopes they will be seated at the Republican National Convention this summer.
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