This marks Haley's first victory in the nomination process and the first time she beat Trump.
Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in Washington, DC, marking her first victory in the nomination process and a symbolic victory for the former US ambassador to the United Nations.
Haley won 62.9% of the vote, compared to 33.2% for former US President Donald Trump. Reuters reported.
“It is not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington's dysfunction reject Donald Trump and all his chaos,” Haley campaign spokeswoman Olivia Pérez-Cubas said in a statement.
Haley was the first woman to win a Republican primary in U.S. history, her campaign said.
He still faces near-impossible odds of winning the Republican nomination to face Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in November.
Trump won the first eight nomination contests before losing to Haley in Washington, D.C., and is expected to win nearly every contest going forward, opinion polls show.
Washington, a predominantly urban city, has a high percentage of college-educated residents, while Trump's base is predominantly rural, with a strong presence in low-educated areas.
The city is also home to numerous federal workers, whom Trump's allies have promised to fire and replace with loyal workers if he wins in November.
Some federal workers in the city Trump refers to as the “swamp” have increasingly faced death threats.
“I purposely stayed away from the DC vote because it's the 'swamp,' with too few delegates and no leads,” Trump said in a post on his platform, Truth Social.
Super Tuesday, an important day in the presidential primaries, will have 874 Republican delegates in 15 states and one US territory at stake.
The Democratic primaries in Washington will take place in June.
