Another confrontation in the fight for the nomination of the candidate of the Republican Party in the presidential elections in November is taking place in Nevada this week between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, Reuters reports, citing news.ro.

But, due to legal disputes and political maneuvers, there are actually two contests.

Haley, Trump’s latest challenger in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, is on one ballot Tuesday, while Trump is on the other Thursday.

The former Republican president all but secured the nomination after winning contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations who has no clear path to the nomination, has vowed to stay in the race and intends to make a potential last-ditch effort in her home state of South Carolina on February 24.

Reuters presents some key thoughts on why the Nevada race has become an anomaly this year:

WHY TWO PAPERS?

The first contest is the primary election organized by the state on February 6. Haley is in that newsletter.

The second ballot is a Feb. 8 caucus hosted by the Republican Party of Nevada, which supports Trump, and only Trump appears on that ballot.

Even if Haley wins the Feb. 6 primary, it will be a narrow victory because only candidates participating in the Feb. 8 caucus can compete for the state’s 26 delegates. That means Trump will almost certainly win all 26 of Nevada’s delegates on February 8.

However, there is an explanation for why many voters in a western state receive two ballots in the mail, with Trump on only one and Haley on the other. The contested ballots are the result of a conflict between the state Republican Party, led by Trump allies, and a 2021 state law requiring a primary.

Nevada has long held presidential caucuses, but after problems with the 2020 caucuses were reported, the state legislature passed a law changing the voting system to a more direct, traditional primary.

The law was also intended to make Nevada a more attractive choice in an attempt to move up the hierarchy of the nominee calendar. At first, this move seemed successful: in 2024, by setting the primary election date for February 6, the state got the coveted place – it became the third in the country in terms of votes.

But presidential caucuses are run by state political parties, not the state, and the Trump-supporting Nevada Republican Party decided to stay in the Feb. 8 caucus. Party leaders believed the caucus would help Trump.

They also ruled last year that any candidate running in the Feb. 6 primary would be ineligible to attend the caucus and therefore would not be able to compete for any of the state’s 26 delegates.

On some level, Nevada got what it wanted: third place in the Republican nomination process. But on the other hand, it’s an award devoid of substance: Haley isn’t campaigning there, Trump has only visited once recently, and the national media is almost entirely ignoring the contest that the state’s GOP has tipped in his favor. ago.