March 2 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump won the Idaho, Michigan and Missouri caucuses Saturday, picking up a treasure trove of delegates and putting himself even further ahead of his rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
Trump swept the Michigan GOP Convention held in Grand Rapids Saturday, winning all 39 delegates awarded at 13 separate caucuses.
“Clearly, this is Trump country, and clearly it’s a great day for Donald Trump,” said Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra, a former congressman and U.S. ambassador during the first Trump presidency.
Michigan Republicans get 55 convention delegates in total. Trump won 12 of the 16 delegates awarded in Tuesday’s primary. Haley had won four.
The Michigan GOP chose to hold a primary and a convention after Democrats changed the date for the state’s primary. Holding a primary under the new date would have put the party out of compliance with the national GOP.
Trump also overcame party infighting as former Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo and Chair Hoekstra held separate conventions.
Karamo has struggled against Republicans who voted to remove her from the position of chair. But their decision was edified Tuesday when a judge ruled she had been lawfully removed from her post.
Trump also picked up all of Missouri’s 51 delegates in the state caucuses Saturday.
Missouri Republicans switched their presidential nominating system from a primary to a caucus after failing to set up a primary in last year’s legislative session. State Democrats will hold a presidential primary later in the month.
Trump lastly took all 32 delegates in Idaho’s GOP caucus Saturday evening, ending the day with a perfect winning streak against Haley, who is the last contender hoping to unseat Trump in the Republican presidential primary.
Haley has vowed to stay in the race at least until Super Tuesday, although she has not scored a single victory in any of the early Republican nominating contests.
Trump and Haley, meanwhile, have spent the weekend campaigning in Super Tuesday states North Carolina and Virginia ahead of March 5.
