What to know about Nikki Haley losing to 'none of these candidates' option in Nevada

In the Republican primary in Nevada, Nikki Haley appeared to lose decisively to the option “None of these Candidates” on Tuesday night, a troubling sign for her campaign as she seeks desperately needed electoral momentum.

With the majority of the expected vote reported for Republicans, “none of these candidates” received nearly double the votes that Haley earned as of early Wednesday morning.

“None of these candidates,” Haley, a number of longshot challengers and two former GOP candidates — Mike Pence and Tim Scott — were on Nevada’s primary ballot.

Pence and Scott received a few thousand votes combined and some of the minor candidates garnering several hundred in total.

The Haley campaign did not respond directly to a question about their loss, instead releasing a statement where they called Thursday’s caucuses a “game rigged for Trump.”

“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,” the campaign’s statement reads.

Tuesday night’s Republican primary result comes as a particular blow to Haley, some of whose supporters were banking on the possibility of her winning the primary with a bigger turnout than the Republican caucuses set to take place on Thursday where Trump is the only competitive candidate on the ballot.

Despite Haley not being eligible to earn any Republican delegates from Nevada due to a state party rule that disqualifies candidates competing in the state-run primary from winning any delegates, some believed that if she won with a bigger vote count in the primary — which tends to be more accessible and tends to get more participation — than former President Donald Trump’s win in the caucuses on Thursday, it could serve as a boost for her regardless of the delegates.

Trump reacted to Haley’s Nevada loss on his social media platform, saying it’s a “bad night” for his Republican rival.

Multiple state party officials told ABC News after the projection that this was an expected result based on the prevalent mood among Republicans in the state leading up to the primary.

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley campaigns in South Carolina

“That was kind of the expected result,” Nevada Republican Party’s National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid told ABC News, noting Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, who recently endorsed Trump, had also suggested he would be casting his vote to “none of these candidates.”

“This is the third state to vote, and I haven’t seen any strength out of her when ballots are actually cast yet,” DeGraffenried continued.

Many Nevada Republicans have soured on Haley over the past few months especially since after she chose to partake in the Republican primary as opposed to the caucuses — voters seeing it as a sign that Nevada delegates are dispensable.

Haley has also visited the state only once so far this cycle during a brief appearance as a guest speaker at the Republican Jewish Coalition cattle call last year.

The sentiment was reflected in some conversations ABC News had with Nevada voters walking out of polling stations earlier on Tuesday, many of them Trump supporters that said they plan to caucus on Thursday where Trump is the sole competitive candidate on the ballot.

“Today, I voted for ‘none of the above,’ because on Thursday, I’m voting for President Trump, who I will continue to vote for,” said Doug Durbin, who cast his vote in the Republican primary at the Veterans Community Center Tuesday afternoon partially as a “statement.”

Durbin said many fellow Republicans around him were not motivated to come out to vote and participate in the primary because of the non-competitive nature of the contests, but stressed the importance of exercising the right to vote.

“We still need to get up, get out,” Durbin said. “I have one leg — I’m on a prosthesis, and I came here today because, like you said, to make a statement and more than anything to make sure that my vote doesn’t get taken by others … We need to get up and get out one leg or two and make our vote count.”

Similarly, another Nevada Republican voter Jill Langerman, walking out of a polling station Tuesday afternoon, told ABC Newsshe voted for someone other than Haley and plans to caucus for Trump, even though she felt that Trump is just “the less of two evils,” referring to President Joe Biden as the other evil.

Still, some other voters leaving polling stations Tuesday afternoon told ABC News they had voted for Haley, one of them even saying he plans to change his party affiliation to independent after today and no longer identify himself as a Republican.

Jill Douglass, a member of the Nevada Republican Party who was volunteering as an election worker at a polling location on Tuesday, said Republican voters appeared to be split between those not motivated to participate in the primary and those coming in to choose “none of these candidates.”

Douglass voiced concerns about the use of “none of these candidates” as a form of political statement, saying it could backfire on future elections.

“That could come back to bite the party for future elections because now you have made the voter base so much more aware of ‘none of the above,’” Douglass said. “I think traditionally, it’s not anything we’ve focused on as a viable selection, and now you’re like, oh, I can vote ‘none of the above.’ That could ultimately hurt the Republican Party in future elections.”