Donald Trump won a resounding victory in the U.S. Virgin Islands caucus, earning 73.98 percent of the vote against just 26.06 percent for neoconservative rival Nimarata ‘Nikki’ Haley.
“I want to thank you all. We had a tremendous victory,” Trump said in a telephone call to supporters gathered in the territory’s capital, Charlotte Amalie.
“We expected to win, but we didn’t expect to win by that much. You are incredible people I will never forget,” added the former president.
The Virgin Islands GOP defied party rules to hold its caucus early to “ensure the voice” of the islanders was heard, according to local chairman Gordon Ackley.
Ackley noted that, like other U.S. territories, the Virgin Islands cannot vote in the presidential elections. An early caucus “was important” to ensure they were not overlooked, he said.
“Every state and every territory should try to make itself and its voters as relevant as possible. It’s absurd that the same couple of states have a monopoly on the calendar,” he said, referring to GOP rules allowing only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina to hold primary or caucus votes before March 1st.
Trump won the Nevada caucus decisively the same day as the Virgin Islands caucus. A rival Nevada primary, which Trump skipped and did not award delegates, saw Haley come a distant second to a “none of the above” option.
