By John McCormick
Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, said Tuesday she is entering the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race in a move that puts her in direct competition with her one-time boss, former President Donald Trump.
"It's time for a new generation of leadership to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border, and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose," Ms. Haley said in an announcement video released a day before she is scheduled to give a formal campaign launch speech in Charleston, S.C.
Ms. Haley's remarks seemed to reference the age of some of the top candidates expected to be in the race. Mr. Trump is 76, while President Biden, who is expected to make a formal announcement in March or April about seeking the Democratic nomination, is 80.
"The socialist left sees an opportunity to rewrite history," Ms. Haley said in the video. "China and Russia are on the march. They all think we can be bullied. Kicked around. You should know this about me: I don't put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you're wearing heels."
The 51-year-old is the first major Republican candidate to commit to taking on Mr. Trump, who launched his third consecutive White House bid in November and remains the party's dominant figure even after disappointing GOP results in the past three national elections.
After her Charleston event Wednesday in an 1800s-era building, Ms. Haley will travel in the coming days to Iowa and New Hampshire, the two states that will start the GOP nomination balloting about a year from now.
South Carolina will be the third state to weigh in on the Republican race, and Ms. Haley could find herself competing there against a fellow state resident, Sen. Tim Scott. He is contemplating his own White House bid and will appear Thursday in his home state at a county GOP dinner celebrating Black History Month, before traveling to Iowa the following week.
"It's going to get confusing," said Katon Dawson, a former state Republican Party chairman who is backing Ms. Haley. "They are both very popular politicians here."
Ms. Haley appointed Mr. Scott to the Senate in 2012 after Sen. Jim DeMint resigned in the midst of an unfinished term. Both she and Mr. Scott, if he decides to run, would face high expectations in South Carolina's primary.
Mr. Trump included South Carolina in late January when he made his first campaign trip of the 2024 presidential race and has the backing of Gov. Henry McMaster and the state's senior senator, Lindsey Graham. "He remains very popular in South Carolina," Mr. Dawson said.
Political rivals have underestimated Ms. Haley in the past, Mr. Dawson said, and would be foolish to do so now. "She's built the infrastructure to go the distance and I think she stands a really good chance of being competitive," he said.
A number of other Republicans are also believed to be contemplating entering the race, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Multiple polls of hypothetical GOP primary contests have shown Messrs. Trump and DeSantis leading the field. The more candidates in the race, the more likely establishment Republican support might be splintered, potentially helping Mr. Trump.
Glenn McCall, a Republican National Committee member from South Carolina who is remaining neutral in the GOP presidential nomination race for now, said he expects Ms. Haley will be a strong competitor, especially in her home state. "The president has about a third of dedicated supporters and she could get a good portion of the remainder of those two thirds," he said.
Mr. McCall said the state's GOP voters are looking for a "strong conservative who will implement policies that move us forward, but is also presidential and can draw people in, rather than alienate them."
The state's political operatives like to point out that South Carolina has a strong record for supporting candidates who eventually become their party's nominees. The GOP nominee has won the state's primary in every contested race since 1980, with the exception of 2012, when Newt Gingrich won and Mitt Romney went on to become the nominee.
Ms. Haley, who often points out that she has never lost a race in South Carolina, was a critic of Mr. Trump before becoming his representative at the U.N. for two years. She has long been mentioned as a potential national candidate, in part because her biography as the daughter of Indian immigrants could provide a compelling narrative for a party that has struggled to attract nonwhites.
No woman has won the presidency, although more than 20 have tried, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Mses. Haley and Noem are the only women known to be contemplating a 2024 GOP presidential bid.
Ms. Haley has disagreed with Mr. Trump on the outcome of the 2020 election, which the former president falsely asserts was stolen from him.
"There was fraud in the election, but I don't think that the numbers were so big that it swayed the vote in the wrong direction," she said in a Wall Street Journal interview in October 2021.
Her approach to navigating Mr. Trump has varied over time. She was sharply critical of him during an appearance before the Republican National Committee just after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in 2021, saying his actions would be "judged harshly by history."Those remarks angered some Republicans loyal to Mr. Trump, and Ms. Haley softened her approach. She said in April 2021 that she wouldn't embark on a 2024 bid if he decided to run again.
After serving in the South Carolina legislature, Ms. Haley in 2010 became the first woman and person of color elected South Carolina's governor. After six years as governor, she was picked by Mr. Trump in 2017 to join his cabinet.
Since resigning her U.N. post in October 2018, Ms. Haley has traveled the nation to promote Republican candidates, make friends in early nominating states and build her own fundraising network.
Write to John McCormick at mccormick.john@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 14, 2023 07:32 ET (12:32 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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