Former President Donald Trump is set to sweep Nevada’s caucuses on Thursday in an unusual contest that also featured a nonbinding primary in the state earlier this week.

What You Need To Know

  • Former President Donald Trump is set to sweep Nevada’s caucuses on Thursday

  • The caucuses are being held just two days after Nevada held a nonbinding primary, which saw Trump's only remaining major competition, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, lose to the option of “none of these candidates” by more than 30 points

  • The dual contest stems from a split between recent state law requiring primary elections and Nevada’s Republicans wanting to keep their caucuses they have been holding since the 1980s

  • On the Democratic side, meanwhile, President Joe Biden cruised to an easy victory on Tuesday, winning the contest and the state's 36 delegates with nearly 90% of the vote

The dual contest stems from a split between recent state law requiring primary elections and Nevada’s Republicans wanting to keep their caucuses they have been holding since the 1980s.

The result? A split contest that sees the frontrunner Trump in the caucuses, with just little-known long shot candidate Ryan Binkley on the ballot with all 26 of the state’s delegates at stake, while Haley participated in Tuesday’s primary, a state-sanctioned contest that did not yield any delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

Haley sought to downplay the results of Tuesday’s contest, which saw her lose to the option of “none of these candidates” by more than 30 points.

“Nevada, it’s such a scam,” she said in an interview with FOX 11 Los Angeles in California on Wednesday, adding: “We knew months ago that we weren’t going to spend a day or a dollar in Nevada because it wasn't worth it."

"We didn’t even count Nevada," she said. "That wasn’t anything we were looking at. We knew it was rigged from the start, our focus is on South Carolina, Michigan and Super Tuesday."

Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney echoed those claims earlier this week: “We have not spent a dime nor an ounce of energy on Nevada. We aren’t going to pay $55,000 to a Trump entity to participate in a process that is rigged for Trump. Nevada is not and has never been our focus."

Nevada State Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid pushed back on those criticisms, per ABC News, calling Haley's remarks "baseless allegations."

Haley, DeGraffenreid said, "deliberately chose to not compete with the leading candidates and now wants a scapegoat," per the outlet.

While Republicans could vote in both contests, Trump recently urged his supporters to keep their eyes on the prize: “Don’t worry about the primary, just do the caucus thing.”

On the Democratic side, meanwhile, President Joe Biden cruised to an easy victory, winning the contest and the state's 36 delegates with nearly 90% of the vote over "none of these candidates" (5.8%) and Marianne Williamson, who suspended her campaign on Wednesday after her loss in Nevada.

Spectrum News' Joseph Konig contributed to this report.