After key victories for Donald Trump in this month’s Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley needs a huge victory in her home state of South Carolina on February 24.
- Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign is renewing focus on her time as South Carolina’s governor.
- Haley needs a strong performance in her home state in the upcoming primary.
- But Trump has racked up the lion’s share of GOP endorsements there.
BUSINESS INSIDER
But Haley has collected fewer endorsements in South Carolina than Trump. The former president has the support of prominent South Carolina figures like Gov. Henry McMaster, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, and Rep. Nancy Mace, along with a raft of top GOP state officials and state lawmakers.
It’s left Haley in a political conundrum. She needs to show Republicans across the country that she can perform well in her home state in order to continue her campaign. But if she can’t generate new endorsements and energy there — where she served as governor from 2011 to 2017 — where else can she do it?
Chip Felkel, a well-known South Carolina GOP political consultant, told The New York Times that Haley’s dilemma is largely one of her own making.
“She was good on economic development but not great on cultivating relationships,” he told the newspaper. “She forgot who helped her get here.”
