Biden wins Nevada primary as Haley loses GOP contest skipped by Trump

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden won Nevada's Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday while Nikki Haley lost the state-run Republican contest skipped by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Biden's victory in Nevada came days after he easily won the South Carolina primary, the first official nominating race of the Democratic Party in the 2024 presidential election cycle.

"Thank you, Nevada! We're building a campaign that leaves no one behind," Biden, who only faces longshot challenges from U.S. Representative Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Let's keep up this momentum."

Biden narrowly won Nevada, a battleground state in the Western region of the United States, in the 2020 presidential election, beating Trump.

Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor, lost the Nevada Republican primary on Tuesday. With 79 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday morning, the "none of these candidates category" has more than 62 percent of the vote, with Haley at 31 percent.

Trump's name wasn't on the Nevada primary's ballot because he is set to compete in party-run caucuses on Thursday, which will award all the state's 26 delegates to the winner. Haley was barred from participating in the Nevada caucus after opting to take part in Tuesday's primary.

Trump wrote in a social media post that it was a "bad night for Nikki Haley."

Haley has been going after Trump, 77, and Biden, 81, by criticizing their ages, alleging on X that Americans "need a president who has the focus and stamina to deal with all the challenges facing our country."

Republicans kicked off their voting season with the Iowa caucus in January, followed by the primary in New Hampshire. Trump won both contests, leaving Haley as the lone challenger to him in the GOP race.

The U.S. presidential primaries will last through June. The Republican National Convention, in which delegates will officially select the party's presidential nominee, will be held in July, while the Democratic National Convention will take place in August. The 2024 Election Day falls on Nov. 5.