A Friday campaign appearance by former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in conjunction with the Washington, D.C., Republican Party created confusion over a $5 entrance fee some voters were charged.
The unorthodox move is in contrast to most Haley campaign rallies, which are normally free for supporters to attend.
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But the D.C. GOP chapter claims the entrance fee will help cover the $200,000 cost of hosting the district’s three-day primary starting Friday and help build donor cultivation in Washington.
“We are on the hook to pay for this entire primary,” D.C. GOP Chairman Patrick Mara said in an interview with the Washington Examiner at the Madison Hotel. “The city’s not paying for it. We’re receiving no help. So we have to raise all the funds.”
Mara said he invited Republican presidential candidates to either a D.C. primary event or last week’s Lincoln-Douglass Day dinner that would double as a fundraiser as context for the entrance fee. Haley also participated in a VIP photo line Friday, separately from her remarks, that cost $500.
GOP rules stipulated that primaries cannot be held within 45 days before the Republican National Convention this summer, forcing the D.C. GOP to move up its scheduled June 4 primary. Democrats in Washington will still vote on June 4.
“If we had kept our election on June 4 … the city would have paid for everything,” Mara said. “We would have lost 10 of our delegates. This isn’t like some sort of cool vanity thing. This is, like, we had to move this primary up.”
The RNC is scheduled for July 15, meaning the deadline to host a primary falls on May 31.
The D.C. GOP primary will award 19 delegates to a candidate who receives more than 50% of the district-wide vote. If no candidate reaches more than 50%, delegates are awarded on a proportional basis for candidates who receive 15% of the certified district-wide vote.
Haley’s campaign was at first perplexed when the Washington Examiner asked about the $5 entrance fee Thursday evening. The campaign later followed up Friday afternoon to clarify that the event was free to supporters with an Eventbrite link.
Mara claimed the campaign knew there would be a fee for some attendees.
“They didn’t like it,” Mara said when asked about conversations with the Haley campaign. “I don’t blame them for not liking it, right … but we’re like, ‘What are we supposed to do?’”
Several attendees at the rally Friday said they were not charged the entrance fee.
“I’ve been giving to her campaign for a long time,” said Karyl Savageau, 80, a retired registered nurse who voted for Haley on Friday. “And it was a register (link), and it was a zero (entrance fee).”
“I did not pay, I just got a free ticket,” said Rose Kesselman, 22, a graduate student at George Washington University.
“Her operation is exceedingly well organized, I’ve been very impressed,” said Doris, 80, a retired lawyer and D.C. resident who declined to share her last name. “I think I got the invitation because I’ve been a donor online, and they know how to milk that for sure.”
“I think that that’s kosher within that realm,” D.C. resident David Krucoff said about the local GOP chapter fundraising. “I gave D.C. GOP $25 today or yesterday. I gave Nikki Haley $25 recently.”
Haley barnstormed D.C. and its Virginia suburbs on Thursday and Friday as she prepares for Super Tuesday, when 874 delegates are up for grabs as 15 states and one U.S. territory host primaries.
The D.C. primary may be Haley’s first pickup against former President Donald Trump if she can cross the 50% threshold to take all 19 delegates. In the reliably blue stronghold, Haley may prove successful with centrist Republicans in Washington.
“Not betting my pension on it,” said Thomas E. Davy, a retired naval officer and D.C. voter who has supported Haley for more than a decade. “I mean, if she’s going to win anywhere, this will be a good first win. I’m pleasantly surprised at this kind of turnout for the governor. If she wins by one vote. It’s me. It’s my vote.”
Mara remained neutral in his answer of whether Haley could win D.C.
“I would say that everybody has a fighting chance,” Mara said. “The issue here is who the candidates get out to vote. And so I know they’ve been touching different districts. So who do they get to come to this hotel downtown? Who do they get out to vote? Because you have to be motivated to come here on a Friday, on a Saturday, and Sunday.”
Voters in Virginia remain hopeful she can eke out a win Tuesday in the Old Dominion after she held two campaign stops Thursday.
“I think she can win Virginia because I think we have the moderates,” said Jatinder Singh, 54, a real estate broker who lives in Loudoun County. “We have the people that are not on the extreme sides of the political spectrum. And so I think this will show other moderates that she has a chance, and I really, hopefully, think that she can squeeze this out and basically show that there’s a winning path for her.”
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Others conceded the uphill battle Haley faces against Trump’s advantageous lead.
“I think it’s gonna be a tough race, but she’s a fighter, and she’s not giving up,” said Brenda Hamicha, 26, a Loudoun County resident who attended Haley’s event on Thursday in Falls Church, Virginia. “So I’m going to be there voting for her. And I’m going to get my friends to vote for her as well.”
