CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, announced her candidacy for president on Tuesday, becoming the first major challenger to former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.
Get excited! Time for a new generation.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023
Let’s do this! 👊 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/BD5k4WY1CP
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Photos: Nikki Haley through the years
Nikki Haley takes the oath as Governor of South Carolina Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. Chief Justice Jean Toal , left, administers the oath of office as Haley's husband Michael and children Rena and Nalin join her at the podium. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)
From left to right, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his wife Ann Romney, shake hands with supporters during a rally at Boiling Springs Fire Station, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, right, speaks, as Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney looks on during a town hall meeting at Memminger Auditorium, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signs a bill into law as former South Carolina governors and officials look on Thursday, July 9, 2015, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. The law enables the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds more than 50 years after the rebel banner was raised to protest the civil rights movement. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley stands behind the podium for a test in front of a picture display of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, in the Tampa Bay Times Forum at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012. Armstrong died Saturday. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, left, comforts her son, Nalin, 10, and her daughter, Rena, 14, as her husband, Capt. Michael Haley, right, gets ready for a deployment ceremony for the South Carolina Army National Guard 3/49 Agribusiness Development Team at McCrady Training Center, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, at Ft. Jackson, S.C. The deployment is scheduled for a year including one month of training in Indiana prior to leaving for Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., stands with, from second from left, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., during a rally, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
UN Ambassador-designate, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, accompanied by her husband Michael, left, prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Vice President Mike Pence administers the oath of office to U.S. Ambassador to the UN, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, in the Vice Presidential Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office building on the White House complex in Washington. Holding the bible is Haley staffer Rebecca Schimsa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 28, 2017, before the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: 'Advancing U.S. Interests at the United Nations'. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
British Ambassador to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft, left, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley vote during a Security Council meeting on a new sanctions resolution that would increase economic pressure on North Korea to return to negotiations on its missile program, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, left, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, center, and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice participate in a panel discussion at a forum sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute in New York, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at the U.N. General Assembly, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017, at United Nations headquarters. President Donald Trump's threat to cut off U.S. funding to countries that oppose his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital has raised the stakes in Thursday's U.N. vote and sparked criticism of his tactics, with one Muslim group calling it bullying or blackmail. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley talks with Chinese deputy ambassador Wu Haitao, Friday, Dec. 22, 2017, at United Nations headquarters. The council is to vote on proposed new sanctions against North Korea, including sharply lower limits on its refined oil imports, the return home of all North Koreans working overseas within 12 months, and a crackdown on the country's shipping. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
President Donald Trump talks to Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, at the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump meets with outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Former Ambassador to the U.N Nikki Haley speaks at the 2019 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference, at Washington Convention Center, in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during the Republican National Convention from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, left, cheers alongside U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace during a campaign rally ahead of South Carolina's GOP primary elections, Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Summerville, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Ranking the 2024 Republican field
10. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas
10. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas: I wrestled with who should get the final spot on the list -- considering Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley among others. I eventually settled on Cotton because a) I think he is the smartest politician of that group b) he represents the sort of muscular conservatism that I think very much would appeal to Trump voters if the former President isn't in the race and c) he will outwork almost any one else in the race. Cotton's challenges are clear: He would have to prove he could raise money to be competitive and he would have lots of work to do to raise his name identification among GOP base voters.
9. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida
9. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida: Scott has been perennially underestimated in his political career. First, people said that he couldn't win the governorship. He served two terms in the job. Then they said he couldn't get elected to the Senate; he knocked off longtime Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson to do just that in 2018. Scott's ambitions are clearly national in scope; his decision to release a policy agenda that he wants to implement if Republicans retake control of the Senate in 2023 is proof of that.
8. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin
8. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin: Two things are true about the Virginia governor: 1) He was just elected to his first public office in 2021 and 2) He is term limited out of that job in 2025. That second point means that Youngkin, necessarily, is already keeping one eye on his future. His successful win in Virginia in 2021 was widely touted as evidence that the GOP can keep the Trump base of the party happy while also appealing to critical swing, suburban voters. I tend to think Youngkin is more VP material in the end but the success and notoriety derived from his 2021 campaign means he can't be ignored if he goes for the top job.
7. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
7. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gets the most 2024 buzz among the Republican state executives -- more on that below -- Abbott has effectively used his perch as the top elected official in Texas to position himself for a presidential race as well. Abbott has been open about his interest in the race -- "We'll see what happens," he said in the wake of the 2020 election -- but has to win his reelection bid against former Rep. Beto O'Rourke first.
6. Former Ambassador Nikki Haley
6. Former Ambassador Nikki Haley: You can count on one hand the number of high-profile Trump appointees who left the administration on good terms with the former president. Haley, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations, is one of them. "She's done a fantastic job and we've done a fantastic job together," Trump said when Haley left in 2018. "We've solved a lot of problems and we're in the process of solving a lot of problems." But, Haley has also publicly flip-flopped on Trump; she was openly critical of him in the aftermath of the January 6 riot at the US Capitol before falling in line behind him once it became clear that the party's base didn't view January 6 as disqualifying for the former president.
5. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas
5. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas: Don't forget that the Texas senator was the runner-up to Trump in the 2016 presidential race. And that, after a rocky relationship with Trump during the fall of 2016, Cruz has gone out of his way to make nice with the man who suggested his father might have been involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Cruz's stronger-than-expected 2016 run should not be discounted -- he has organizations in early states and a national fundraising base that is unmatched by those below him on this list.
4. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina
4. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina: Like a number of people on this list, it's hard to imagine the South Carolina Senator running for president if Trump is in the field. (Scott is on record as saying he would back a Trump 2024 campaign.) But, in a Trump-less field, Scott is deeply intriguing: He is the first Black senator elected from the Deep South since Reconstruction and the first Black Republican to serve in the Senate since 1979. He's built a reliably conservative (and pro Trump) record during his nine years in the Senate while showing a willingness to work across the aisle when possible. If Republicans decide they need a new face to lead their party, Scott is at the front of that line.
3. Former Vice President Mike Pence
3. Former Vice President Mike Pence: I really struggled on where the former vice president belonged on this list. On the one hand, he has been disowned by Trump (and the former president's loyalists) for refusing to overturn the 2020 electoral college results. On the other, Pence has tons of residual name identification from his four years as vice president and retains a solid base of support among religious conservatives. The New York Times reported last month that Pence is trying to edge away from Trump as he considers running in 2024. That's going to be a very delicate dance.
2. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
2. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: There's a clear gap between the Florida governor and the rest of the Republican field not named "Donald Trump." DeSantis even managed to beat out the former President in a straw poll conducted at a Colorado conservative political conference over the weekend. DeSantis can't take his eye off the ball -- he is running for a second term this fall -- but he has, to date, very effectively used his day job as a way to boost his national profile.
1. Former President Donald Trump
1. Former President Donald Trump: If you want to find cracks in the Trump foundation, you can do it; his endorsed candidates in governor's races in places like Georgia, Nebraska and Idaho lost primaries earlier this year. But, that would miss the forest for the trees. The simple fact is that Trump remains the prime mover in Republican Party politics. If he runs -- and I absolutely believe he will -- he starts in a top tier all his own. The nomination is quite clearly his to lose -- which doesn't mean he can't lose it.
