CHARLESTON, S.C. — Nikki Haley is officially back on the campaign trail, and this time she’s seeking the White House.
Haley is the first former official from Donald Trump’s administration to announce a 2024 run for the presidency. While she’s behind in early polling, her early entry into in the Republican race gives her time to gain traction and close the gap with her old boss.
Haley, who served as South Carolina governor from 2011-2017, kicked off her 2024 campaign for the White House in a splashy event on Wednesday in Charleston — making her to the fifth prominent Republican woman to run for president.
Haley, who started her political career as state representative from Lexington County, held her first presidential rally Wednesday at the Charleston Visitor Center, where she leaned into her conservative credentials and did not shy away from being a female candidate.
“I’ve been underestimated before. That’s always fun, and I’ve been shaking up the status quo my entire life,” Haley said. “As I set out on this new journey, I will simply say this: May the best woman win.”
Haley served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations for about two years. She could soon be joined in the Republican candidate field by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who Haley appointed to the Senate in 2012.
The 51-year-old Haley previously said she would not run if the 76-year-old Trump ran in 2024. She starts her campaign trailing in polls behind other possible challengers in South Carolina, an early voting state. But her argument for the nomination includes the push for a new generation of leadership away from Trump and President Joe Biden, who is 80.
She also touts how she has never lost an election while reiterating Republicans have lost seven out of the last eight popular votes for president.
Haley’s campaign kickoff, which took place in front of a large crowd, comes about one year before the South Carolina holds its first-in-the-South presidential primary.
Meanwhile, Trump, who launched his campaign last year, announced his South Carolina leadership team at the South Carolina State House last month, joined by Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, among others.
“Nikki Haley is just another career politician. She started out as a Never Trumper before resigning to serve in the Trump administration,” said Taylor Budowich, head of the pro-Trump Make America Great Again political action committee. “She then resigned early to go rake in money on corporate boards. Now, she’s telling us she represents a ‘new generation.’ Sure just looks like more of the same, a career politician whose only fulfilled commitment is to herself.”
Haley's entrance into the campaign immediately led to attacks from the Democratic National Committee, which is chaired by South Carolina native Jaime Harrison, who sought to attach her with the Trump base of the party and depict her as too extreme.
Harrison criticized Haley for signing South Carolina’s 20-week abortion ban that did not include exceptions for rape or incest and for refusing to expand Medicaid as allowed under the Affordable Care Act.
“(Haley) spent most of her time working for and praising Donald Trump and has long embraced some of the most extreme elements of the MAGA agenda,” Harrison said on a call with reporters.
When Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, left her United Nations post, she joined the board of aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which has a plant in South Carolina. She also sits on the board of her alma mater, Clemson University.
She gained national attention after the 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church where nine Black churchgoers, including a state senator, were killed by a self-described white supremacist. The shooting led to calls to remove the Confederate flag from the State House grounds, which Haley supported, giving political cover to lawmakers to vote to move the flag to the Confederate Relic Room.
“I have a particular message for my fellow Republicans,” Haley said Wednesday. “We’ve lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. Well, that ends today. If you’re tired of losing, then put your trust in a new generation.”
About 2,000 people packed The Shed at the Charleston Visitor Center, eclipsing the crowd at Trump’s invitation-only event in January.
Edith Hartis, a 60-year-old retired teacher, drove from Rock Hill to show her support for Haley’s candidacy. Hartis said she isn’t discouraged by the early polls in the race.
“Well, she was down every other time, and she won,” Hartis said. “I think once people realize that she’s actually running … now that she has made it official, I think you will see a definite increase in the polls.”
Dan and Sarah Ostergaard, of Columbia, came with their 20-year-old son Jack to the rally. They plan to support Haley’s candidacy.
“When she was the governor, there were a lot of really tough issues the state faced,” Dan Ostergaard said. “The economy, there were the killings here in Charleston, the Confederate Flag, and I think she led everybody through that, and we emerged stronger as a result.”
Haley’s campaign also highlighted her foreign policy experience by inviting Cindy Warmbier, the mother of Otto Warmbier, to speak at the rally. Otto Warmbier was held in North Korea for 15 months but released during the Trump administration.
However, he returned in a comatose state and later died. Cindy Warmbier said she was able to confide in Haley. She even joined Haley at a United Nations meeting where she said she saw Haley “fight for what is right.”
“It was contentious and tough,” Warmbier said. “I asked her ... ‘How are you so strong?’ Because I saw strength in Nikki, and I wanted it for myself. She said, ‘You have to stand up. If you’re not strong, the bad guys sense it. They sense your weakness.’”
Haley aims to win her home state primary
Winning the South Carolina primary is key for any presidential campaign.
Since 1980, the winner of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary has gone on to win the GOP nomination, except in 2012, when Republicans nominated Mitt Romney.
Launching her campaign now, roughly a year before primary voting, gives Haley time to work her way up in the polls, boost her name recognition, gain endorsements and line up donors to contribute money to her campaign. After her Wednesday kickoff, she’s headed to early primary states New Hampshire and Iowa.
Haley’s supporters say voters should not underestimate the former governor.
“Every time Nikki has run for anything, people underestimated Nikki,” said state Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, who has endorsed Haley’s bid for president. “When she ran for the State House, she was underestimated. When she ran for governor, nobody thought she had a chance. Every time, she over performs, she wins. That’s gonna be true this time, too.”
If and when DeSantis, Pence, Pompeo, Scott and others join the race, a field of mostly men could work in Haley’s favor, said state Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, who first encouraged Haley to run for state representative against longtime incumbent Larry Koon.
Shealy, like Haley, defeated a longtime male lawmaker to win her seat in the Senate and was once the only woman to serve in the upper chamber. The state Senate now has five women.
“Do I think Nikki Haley will be the first female president? Yes, I do,” Shealy said. “Do I think it will be in 2024? I think she has as good a chance as anyone else who’s running, because I think the men are going to beat each other up brutally, and I think she’s smart. I think she can stand up with the rest of them, she can be intelligent. And she’s not going to let them bash her, but she’s not going to play their silly games either.”
It remains to be seen how much support Haley could expect from elected Republicans in the state. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, threw his support behind Haley and spoke at Wednesday’s rally. She also has the support of at least two current state lawmakers. During her tenure as a state representative and governor, Haley was known to ruffle feathers in the General Assembly.
When she was a state representative, Haley pushed for mandatory roll-call votes on legislation and sections of the budget when those could pass with a simple voice vote. This forced lawmakers to put their votes on the record.
She had disagreements with the General Assembly over whether to increase the gas tax when she also wanted an income tax cut. Eventually, a compromise was reached to phase in a gas tax hike and work toward an income tax cut.
“The key in governance is consensus. At times, there was a combative relationship between Gov. Haley and the General Assembly,” said former state Rep. Gary Simrill, who served in the House for 30 years. “It was a good show and good fodder. It was not productive in many forms of legislation.”
State Rep. Nathan Ballantine, R-Lexington, who was Haley’s seatmate when they first were elected to the State House in 2004, told The State he will back her campaign.
“Literally nobody liked us at the caucus. We sat by ourselves for lunch,” Ballentine said. “She’s been fighting since Day One.”
“She was tea party before tea party back in the day,” Ballentine added.
Other Republicans say they remember Haley having an open-door policy and a willingness talk to anybody.
House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, who served as House majority leader from 2012-2016, said Haley is always on message and will run a good campaign.
“Gov. Haley was very clear about the things she wanted to get done,” Bannister said of her time as governor. “She was a very hard worker. So she was always working on her agenda items. She took a very similar political approach to Mark Sanford in my opinion, and she wanted it exactly the way she wanted it and was not very interested in compromising as much as focused on the policy that she wanted to see put in place.”
Haley often reminds audiences that she has never lost an election and that it’s time for a new generation of leaders, taking jabs at the age of Biden and Trump. Most recently, on Fox News, she said she thinks can be the new leader.
“Whatever ‘it’ is, she has it,” Climer said. “The steely determination, the wisdom and the tenacity, not only to win the office, but to serve well in the office.”
———
