In historic win, Nikki Haley beats Trump in D.C. Republican primary

March 3 (UPI) -- Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, has won the District of Colombia's Republican primary, securing her first victory over front-runner Donald Trump and making her the first woman to win a GOP primary race.

Nineteen delegates were up for grabs in the district Sunday night. The Republican Party of Washington, D.C., said Haley, who is also the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, secured nearly 63% of the vote.

Trump finished second with 33%.

"All 19 delegates and 16 alternate delegates from the District of Columbia are awarded to Gov. Nikki Haley," the D.C. Republican Party said in a statement.

A total 2,035 Republicans issued ballots in the contest.

"This makes Nikki Haley the first woman to win a Republican primary in U.S. history," her spokeswoman, Olivia Perez-Cubas, said in a statement on X.

The embattled former president has been criminally indicted four times, including in D.C. where he faces four felony counts related to his efforts to overthrow the 2020 election, which culminated with the insurrection attempt of Jan. 6, 2021.

"Republicans closest to Washington's dysfunction know that Donald Trump has brought nothing but chaos and division for the past eight years," Haley said in a statement after her win.

"It's time to start winning again and move our nation forward."

Trump defended his loss in D.C. by disregarding it as the "swamp" he famously vowed to drain while campaigning for the 2016 presidential election that also had "very few delegates."

"Birdbrain spent all of her time, money and effort there," he said on his right-wing Truth Social platform.

Haley's victory comes after Trump has beaten her in all of the GOP caucuses and primaries that have come before, including those held Saturday in Michigan, Idaho and Missouri.

According to a delegates tracker by The New York Times, Trump leads the Republican primary race with 244 delegates to Haley's 43.

Fifteen states will select their delegates on what is known as Super Tuesday this week.