Among the donors preparing for Haley’s reception in New York on December 4 are two people close to Paul Singer, the hedge fund billionaire who has been critical of Trump. Greg Wendt, a former Scott supporter who donated to: moderate, anti-Trump Republicans Such as Jan Kasich and John McCain are currently expressing interest in Haley, according to a fundraiser for the New York-based Republican, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about private conversations. And Doug Gross, a Republican operative who was the Iowa Republican Party’s nominee for governor in 2002, told POLITICO that after months of fieldwork looking for an alternative to Trump, he plans to campaign for Haley.
“‘Never Trumpers’ and ‘Anybody but Trumpers’ are really consolidating around her from a financial standpoint,” said Gross, who was chief of staff to former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.
Haley is benefiting from a recent surge in support. He is currently on the ballot against DeSantis in New Hampshire, the primary primary state, and in his home state of South Carolina. One of the last surveys showed her running neck-and-neck with DeSantis in Iowa.
“I was vacillating between three or four different people,” said Carmine Boal, a former state lawmaker from Iowa who said she was supporting Haley because she considered her the most likely candidate to take down Trump. “The only thing I knew was that I wouldn’t support him in clubs. … I think [Haley] will do well with independents, especially suburban women. And everyone knows that elections are won or lost with an independent vote.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, co-host of “The View” and a former Trump White House adviser who has been critical of the former president’s candidacy, on Tuesday described Haley as “without a doubt the best option to defeat Trump.”
Still, Haley lags far behind the former president. And in a party where she still dominates, consolidating votes against Trump will likely only take Haley so far. In a still-crowded elementary school, Haley is in some ways the latest manifestation of the challenge everyone faces: standing up strongly to Trump and turning off those who stick by his side. Support him and get rid of those who are desperate for another choice next year.
“Many old-school Republicans didn’t like Trump, but voted for him the first time with their fingers crossed, and then refused to vote for him a second time” – Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican who routinely conducts focus groups with GOP voters, said Haley is particularly popular among the primary electorate.
But that’s still not where the majority of the Republican electorate is.
“I think most people realize that her path is extremely narrow,” Longwell said. – It means extremely narrow.
Haley is seeking to broaden that path by appealing to both the MAGA base and the rest of the Republican Party, as well as its far-right conservatives and more moderate voters. After months of giving nonspecific answers about abortion policy intended to show nuance and compassion during the November debate, she voiced support for a six-week state-level ban during a candidate forum hosted by a conservative evangelical group in Des Moines.
This is reminiscent of the way Haley has addressed Trump supporters and opponents, going through phases over the past eight years of opposing and praising Trump, and more recently doing both.
As governor of South Carolina in 2016, Haley spoke out against Trump’s nomination as the GOP nominee, supporting Sen. Marco Rubio. Then, after Trump’s election, her appointment as UN ambassador changed her relationship with the now-former president, and she included favorable comments about Trump in a book she published after leaving office in 2018.
But Haley, in the wake of the 2021 Capitol riot, oscillated between condemning Trump for the decisions he made in the White House and later saying that conservatives “need him in the Republican Party.”
Now on the trail, Haley has tried to hold space for everyone’s feelings toward Trump, repeatedly saying he was “the right president at the right time” while criticizing certain aspects of his foreign policy and personality. Even though he enjoys the support of Never Trump Republicans, he is not running the same campaign as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“Where her support is coming from is people who are ‘maybe Trump,’ people who voted for Trump twice, would vote for him against Joe Biden in a heartbeat, but are worried or at least interested in who else is out there,” the Republican pollster said Whit Ayres.
Right now, it seems to be working, and Haley is set to release a torrent of ads in the final run-up to the first state competition. Haley’s camp currently leads the rest of the pack for upcoming TV ad bookings. From Thanksgiving through the New Hampshire primary on January 23, the two groups that booked the best advertising time were Haley’s campaign and her super PAC, Stand for America Fund Inc.
Haley’s campaign has since booked $4.2 million in ads in Iowa and New Hampshire, while the SFA Fund has booked $3.8 million, according to tracking firm AdImpact. As part of the campaign, Haley announced that she plans to set aside a total of $10 million in television, radio and digital advertising in the first two states.
Meanwhile, DeSantis has booked $1.5 million in TV over the same period – all in Iowa – and his affiliated super PAC Never Back Down has $3.3 million worth of TV ads on the books in New Hampshire and Iowa, ahead of New Hampshire . basic.
DeSantis still enjoys support from some of Trump’s critics: Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader in Iowa, endorsed him on Tuesday. But while those closest to DeSantis downplay Haley’s career, NBC reported on Tuesday that a super PAC with close ties to the Florida governor’s campaign is pulling anti-Haley ads in Iowa because they are not well received.
Haley and her campaign are now on a victory lap, openly claiming ownership of the second seat in the race that for months belonged solely to DeSantis.
“There is a growing consensus that Nikki Haley is the best contender to challenge Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Olivia Perez-Cubas, Haley’s spokeswoman, said in a statement to POLITICO. “It’s a two-man race – between one man and one woman.”
On Tuesday, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said: “Ron DeSantis must be devastated that his Never Trump sugar daddies have found someone new.”
The DeSantis campaign declined to respond to Cheung’s comments.