Republican Nikki Haley has suffered a string of significant losses in US presidential primaries that prompted allies to believe that the end of her 2024 campaign for the White House may be near.
She did not appear in public as American officials counted ballots coast-to-coast late into the night.
Privately, Ms Haley’s team expected Republican rival Donald Trump to win almost every one of the so-called “Super Tuesday” contests, despite their best efforts to stop him.
Ms Haley, who as of midnight local time had logged her only victory of the day in Vermont, spent the night huddled with staff watching returns near her South Carolina home.
Spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said: “The mood is jubilant. There is lots of food and music.”
Later, Ms Perez-Cubas said the support Ms Haley received in Vermont and elsewhere showed that the Republican party is far from unified.
“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united’,” she said. “Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump. That is not the unity our party needs for success.”
81% of Americans don’t think their kids will have as good of a life as they do. That’s unacceptable. We have to right this ship and make sure all of our kids are able to achieve their American Dreams. pic.twitter.com/jw3cUq9n7r
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) March 5, 2024
Despite the party atmosphere, Ms Haley could face growing pressure to suspend her campaign in the coming days.
She entered Super Tuesday as a huge underdog in the Republican presidential nomination contest, and she left the day having suffered a series of losses that will make it virtually impossible to stop Mr Trump from securing the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Mr Trump is expected to win the necessary 1,215 delegates to become the Republicans’ presumptive nominee later this month.
During previous election nights, he has criticised Ms Haley in personal terms, but on Tuesday he made no mention of her at all during remarks at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Ms Haley’s departure would mark a painful blow to voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Mr Trump and his fiery brand of “Make America Great Again” politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that play a pivotal role in general elections, but represent a minority of Republican primary voters.
New York-based Republican donor Eric Levine, a fierce Trump critic, said he was disappointed by Tuesday’s results and would respect whatever decision Ms Haley makes about the future of her campaign.
“I’m proud to have supported her and would be proud to support her in the future,” Mr Levine said.
She had spent recent weeks aggressively warning the Republicans against embracing Mr Trump, whom she argued was far too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election this autunn.
But she was never able to break through with the party’s passionate, Trump-loyal base.
Still, Ms Haley’s allies note that she exceeded most of the political world’s expectations by making it as far as she did.
