In which state did Donald Trump win by the largest margin in the primary?

Five GOP primaries have taken place this year, and former President Donald Trump has won them all.

The only Trump challenger in the race is former South Carolina Governor and former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley. After failing to win any primaries or reach the minimum standards to qualify for the GOP debates in the fall, many candidates who had put their names in the hat withdrew from the race. Haley has said she will stay in the race until at least Super Tuesday, which will take place on 5 March.

The contest begins in Iowa

The Iowa caucus was the first event of the GOP primary election season. Donald Trump won 51 percent of the vote, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who secured second-place victory by garnering 21.3 percent, compared to Nikki Haley’s 19.1 percent. The margin was 29.7 percent, and after the loss, Gov. DeSantis dropped out of the race.

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Next up, New Hampshire

Next up was the New Hampshire primary, where in a smaller field, 54.4 percent of voters cast their ballot for Trump, compared to 43.2 percent for Nikki Haley. While the margin shrunk to 11.2 percent between Trump and his next closest competitor, New Hampshire was thought to be a state where Haley could have eeked out a victory.

Nevada makes its frustration clear

The situation in Nevada was complicated this year.

In August 2023, the state’s Republican Party rejected to accept the state-organized, non-binding primary that was supposed to replace the caucus system traditionally seen in the state. In the end, two events were hosted in the state. The first is the state-run primary, where “None of these candidates” won the day, securing 48,763 or 63.2 percent of the vote. Nikki Haley was the candidate who received the highest total votes, with 23,665.

However, on 8 February, when the Nevada GOP hosted the caucus, Donald Trump, the only major candidate on the ballot, secured 99.1 percent of the vote. The complicating factors of having two different elections make calculating the margins by which Trump won rather tricky.

Virgin Island GOP voters show out for Trump

In the US Virgin Islands, 265 voters participated, with 74.2 percent casting their ballot for Donald Trump and sixty-five for Nikki Haley. The margin here was the highest to date, with 48.4 percent more voters opting for Trump over Haley.

South Carolina opts for Trump

In her home state of South Carolina, the former governor could not inch out a victory. With 59.8 percent of ballots cast going to Trump and only 39.5 percent to Haley, the margin is the third largest of the season thus far at 20.3 percent.