Presidential candidate Nikki Haley filed Monday for the primary election in early-voting South Carolina, her home state. Earlier that day, Haley reached second place in a Des Moines Register poll ahead of Iowa’s GOP caucus, the first in the nation.
Haley is experiencing a surge… and she says she can win a two-person race against former President Donald Trump.
In the poll, Haley was pulling even in Iowa with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Meanwhile, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, the first debate’s breakout candidate, has reportedly seen his favorability ratings plunge after some on-the-ground campaigning in the Hawkeye State.
Haley has even become the subject of attacks by DeSantis, who takes issue with Haley’s 2015 comments in favor of accepting refugees from certain nations in the Middle East.
“God bless Ron DeSantis because he continues to try and bring up this refugee situation,” Haley said at an event in Iowa, according to Politico. She went on to describe DeSantis’ barbs as “what happens when a campaign starts to spiral out.”
Commentators have attributed Haley’s rise to the timing.
Haley, the former ambassador to the U.N., seems to be benefitting from the increasing salience of foreign policy, as Israel deepens its offensive into the Gaza Strip. Some Republicans have endorsed Haley and cited national security specifically.
“She’s breaking through at the right moment,” Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist, told Politico. “Everything else has been ridiculous preseason coverage, like baseball teams at summer training… I think it all starts now.”
At one point, a dozen Republicans were running for president. Now, the number is dwindling. Former Vice President Mike Pence ended his bid over the weekend amid lackluster polling numbers and low fundraising totals. In fact, former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas suspended his campaign to endorse Haley, and he cited Haley’s experience in national security.
“It’s coming at a great time for her,” pollster Whit Ayres told Politico. “Sometimes the direction of movement is as important as the absolute level of standing — and she’s going up, while the other candidates are either going down or remaining flat.”
Haley is still polling far behind Trump, the leading Republican. However, she suggested Monday that she might be able to beat Trump by the time of South Carolina’s primary on Feb. 24.
The number of Republican candidates will continue to dwindle after the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus and subsequent New Hampshire primary, Haley told the Associated Press. “Then we’ll come to the sweet state of South Carolina, and we’ll finish it,” she continued.
Haley appears to be counting on the other candidates to suspend their campaigns and clear the field for a two-person race between herself and Trump.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.