Nikki Haley Launches her Presidential Campaign
Haley pictured at an event on February 1. Source for photo: OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters
On February 13, 2023, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley announced her candidacy for president, becoming the first person outside of former President Donald Trump who has officially done so. She joins the long list of Republicans potentially vying for the party’s nomination, a list which notably includes Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former Vice President Mike Pence. According to a national poll by Quinnipiac University, when the potential field is narrowed to these four candidates, Republican and Republican leaning voters are split between Trump (43 percent) and DeSantis (41 percent), a virtual dead heat. Haley receives 6 percent and Pence receives 4 percent. Therefore, holistically speaking, it seems that Haley is not a popular option for Republican voters.
She appears to be more moderate than some of her Republican colleagues. In a 2023 interview, she pointed to a proposal from Senator Lindsey Graham that would establish a national 15-week abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest, health, and life of the mother. She also called to fix “our broken immigration system,” but said she opposed open borders. She opposed efforts to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (South Carolina remains just one of 11 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid to allow more Americans to have government health insurance). She also defended the Paul Ryan budget plan of 2011 that would have transformed Medicare into a voucher/premium support system, and criticized then-presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for opposing that plan.
This is not the first political race in which Haley has been underestimated. During her gubernatorial election in 2010, Haley was consistently trailing in the polls until just a few weeks before her primary. It was noted that a “surprise” endorsement from former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin boosted Haley's candidacy. Additionally, Haley is a far more diverse candidate than the Republican party has previously seen. In 2010, she was the youngest governor in the nation as well as the first woman and the first person of color to lead South Carolina. She served as US Ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump Administration.
However, her prior experience and determination does not mean she isn’t facing less than ideal odds. Most of these obstacles come in the form of her potential opponents, such as former President Trump. She criticized Trump after he contested the 2020 election results and his supporters attacked the US Capitol, but a few months later, she said she would not oppose him if he ran for president again. Now, as she launches her presidential campaign, Haley criticizes Trump and a slew of older politicians, calling for term limits for Congress and “a new generation to lead us into the future.” Trump still holds a strong coalition of Republican voters, as demonstrated by recent polls, and Haley’s criticisms do not bode well.
As Haley has positioned herself as a “more moderate” alternative to far-right Republicans, one must ask if that is truly the way to win Republican voters in such a polarized society. Following Trump’s presidency and especially following the January 6th insurrection, we have seen an increase in staunch support for the former president and his conservative ideologies. Additionally, one must evaluate whether Haley can even truly be considered a moderate alternative to other Republicans, such as Trump and DeSantis. Haley’s policy stances themselves do not seem to be any more moderate than her opponents. The potentially distinctive appeal of Nikki Haley lies in the fact that she has a “temperamental evenness which the former president clearly lacks,” and she is willing to participate in formalities and niceties rather than always adopting a combative stance.