Why AP called the Nevada GOP caucuses for Trump: Race call explained

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has easily won Thursday’s Nevada caucuses, the second Republican presidential contest held in the state in just three days, but the only one that will have an official impact on the race for the GOP nomination.

The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 11:06 p.m. ET based on an analysis of initial vote results showing him with an overwhelming lead in six locations throughout the state. At the time the race was called, nearly all of the ballots cast in the caucuses were for Trump, roughly 98% of the total vote.

The scale of the win was overwhelming, with Trump above 90% in every county with votes counted. At the time of the AP’s call, he had won all the votes counted in two of those counties — and there wasn’t a single county in which Binkley had a vote total measured in double digits.

Unlike other states, Nevada held two Republican presidential contests, both this week, following a dispute between state officials and the state GOP over how presidential nominating events should be run. In 2021, Nevada enacted a new law that moved away from the Iowa-style presidential caucuses the state had held for years in favor of a traditional, state-run primary. The Nevada Republican Party opposed the plan and opted to hold Thursday’s caucuses to allocate delegates, essentially disavowing the primary and rendering it meaningless.

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