A thinned-out primary and friendly voting structure clear an easy path for Trump in Nevada

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A thinned-out primary field and a group of Nevada Republicans loyal to Donald Trump have put the former president on an easy path to sweep the state’s Republican delegates and made the third state in the GOP primary calendar a national non-factor.

Nevada will have two contests in February. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will run in the Feb. 6 primary that the Nevada secretary of state is required to operate. Trump will run instead in the Feb. 8 caucuses operated by the state Republican Party, which has decided that only its caucuses will count for the purposes of awarding delegates.

The changes, which could confuse thousands of voters who receive primary mail ballots without Trump on them, also diminish the influence Nevada would have as any early, competitive nominating state.

Trump allies within the state Republican Party engineered changes last year that set them up for caucuses and imposed restrictions that rivals including Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis felt made the process unfair. They’re part of a broader pattern of state Republican parties closely aligning with Trump as he looks to quickly lock in the Republican nomination.

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