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Haley’s loss to “none of these candidates” in Nevada primary was coordinated effort
Nikki Haley’s surprising loss to “none of these candidates” in the Nevada primary, where she was the only candidate who was still competing for the Republican nomination, was the result of a coordinated effort by Trump supporters to prevent Haley from claiming victory — even though the primary allocates no GOP delegates.
Trump caucus captains told CBS News that they encouraged their supporters to check the box for none of these candidates on the Nevada primary ballot. This was the first year that all registered voters received a primary ballot in the mail in the Silver State.
“I tell people if they want to vote for Trump, they have to go to the caucus and to vote none of the above,” said Guadalupe Reyes, a Trump caucus captain and state Assembly candidate for Nevada District 41. “If they are a Haley candidate, I say go ahead. But if you want to vote for Trump, you have to go to the caucus.”
Though Haley was listed on the primary ballot, she did not invest resources or campaign in Nevada because she is not a candidate in the caucus contest, which takes place Thursday, and which is the only race in the state that allocates delegates. Her campaign has complained that the Nevada state Republican Party “rigged” the contest to favor Trump.
“We made the decision early on that we were not going to pay $55,000 to a Trump entity to participate in a process that was rigged for Trump,” Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney told reporters during a press call, prior to the primary. “So Nevada is not and has never been our focus.”
Other GOP contenders told CBS News they agreed with the Haley campaign’s assessment.
“Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots, the house wins. We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump. We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond,” Haley campaign’s Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement, in response to the primary results.
While Nevada represents yet another setback for Haley, her campaign has laid out its strategy going into Super Tuesday, on March 5. Ankney says Haley will be relying on the 11 out of 16 Super Tuesday states that have open or semi-open primaries that allow independents to participate.
Haley’s campaign is courting independent voters who have not traditionally participated in Republican primaries. In Massachusetts, for example, independents make up 60% of the state’s registered voters. Haley’s campaign recently put together a team of state representatives and local leaders who are working to mobilize voters on her behalf.
Though Haley’s campaign insists she’ll stay in the race through South Carolina and Super Tuesday, the Nevada results could haunt her and raise the pressure on her from within the party and among some allies to look for an exit before South Carolina.
Some Haley allies have told CBS News they hope to keep Haley, who was twice elected governor in South Carolina, from suffering a potentially embarrassing loss in her home state that could be problematic for her political future beyond 2024. In that race, unlike Nevada, both Trump and Haley will be on the same ballot.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.