Nikki Haley makes her pitch to New Hampshire voters: 5 things to know about the former governor
EXETER, N.H. — The inaugural series of 2024 Republican presidential town halls in Exeter, New Hampshire, hosted by Seacoastonline, Paste BN and the Paste BN Network, will feature former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley Thursday evening.
She will take questions from voters at 6:30 p.m. ET. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET.
The former governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is trailing behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in some polls among Republican voters, but she has led other GOP rivals, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Ahead of her town hall, here are five things to know about Haley.
Nikki Haley served as a South Carolina state lawmaker and governor
Haley served as a South Carolina state lawmaker from 2005 to 2011 and governor of the Palmetto State from 2011 to 2017. She has frequently touted her local political credentials on the campaign trail.
As a state representative, Haley pushed for more transparency in local government and spearheaded efforts to require more roll call votes from state lawmakers, effectively forcing lawmakers' positions to be publicly recorded.
Haley, after becoming governor, eventually signed a law mandating more roll call votes.
Haley was serving as governor during the 2015 Charleston church shooting, when a white supremacist shot and killed nine worshippers at the Emanuel AME Church, a historically Black church.
At the time, the Confederate flag had flown on the South Carolina State House grounds for 77 years, but following the shooting, Haley signed a bill lowering the flag in one of her most significant acts as governor.
Nikki Haley served as Donald Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
Haley also served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President Donald Trump’s administration and has sought to make her foreign policy credentials front and center on the campaign trail.
At other town halls, Haley often says she took the “kick me” sign off America’s back in the United Nations.
And as skepticism about continued U.S. aid to Ukraine grows in the GOP, Haley is one of the Republican Party’s most vocal defenders of Ukraine, arguing that “a win for Russia is a win for China.”
On the debate stage Haley has been eager to hammer her opponents on foreign policy. The former U.N. ambassador went after entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy for his opposition to continued U.S. aid to Ukraine.
Could Nikki Haley defeat Joe Biden?
In a crowded presidential field dominated by Trump, Haley has sought to make the argument she is the candidate best fit to defeat President Joe Biden in a general election matchup.
In a race solely between Biden and Haley, the former South Carolina governor beat out the sitting president by 5 points, 41%-46%, according to a poll conducted by NBC News in September. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Haley’s campaign has not shied away from touting her polling performance against Biden.
“Nikki Haley stands apart as the only candidate who handily beats Joe Biden in the general election,” the campaign said in a statement in September.
Nikki Haley has seen strong breakout debate performances
The former South Carolina governor has run, as she described to Paste BN in an interview in May, a “slow and steady campaign.”
“This is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. I’m not concerned with where things are now. I’m concerned about touching as many voters as we can and watching that go,” Haley said. “It’s slow and steady wins the race.”
While Trump remains the frontrunner of the 2024 GOP primary, Haley’s slow and steady campaign could be bearing fruit. She has seen her support among likely GOP voters surge after her debate performances.
In New Hampshire, a critical early voting state, Haley rose to second place behind Trump in a Suffolk University/Boston Globe/Paste BN poll, at 19% support. The former president still holds a commanding lead at 49%, but in the Granite State, at least, Haley appears to be Trump’s primary rival.
Following the second Republican primary debate, Trump went after Haley as “Birdbrain Nikki Haley,” on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Haley took Trump’s attack in stride, writing in a post on X, formerly Twitter, “Love this. It means we are in 2nd and moving up fast. Bring it!”
She is the only woman in the 2024 GOP presidential field
Haley also stands out from the rest of the pack as the only woman in the GOP presidential field. She has occasionally mentioned that status on the campaign trail, telling voters that it is time to elect a woman to the White House.
The presidential hopeful has noted she is uniquely fit to reach out to women voters, compared to the other 2024 candidates.
“I know the challenges they face. I know whether they’re taking care of elderly parents because I’m doing that. I know about their spouses in the military. I’m a military wife. I know about that,” Haley told Paste BN. “I know about raising children and the concerns you have.”