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Nikki Haley (R), the first woman and person of color elected governor of South Carolina, announced she is running for president in the 2024 election in a video on Tuesday.
Haley, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump (R), is the first Republican to announce a challenge to the former president’s bid for the 2024 GOP nomination.
Haley is the first Asian American woman with a major national profile to seek the GOP nomination and the fifth Republican woman to vie for the presidency, according to the Center for Women and Politics.
If elected, Haley would be the nation’s first woman president and the first president of Asian American descent.
Haley, who was raised Sikh, is one of the nation’s highest-profile Asian American Republicans and has endorsed GOP candidates, including former NFL player and Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) in 2022, campaigning to appeal to Asian American voters in Georgia.
Asian American voters tend to vote for Democratic candidates, and Indian Americans were more likely to vote for Democrats than Republicans in the midterm elections, according to a national voter survey by the nonprofit APIAVote — but Haley leaned into her identity in her announcement video.
“I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants, not Black, not white,” starts Haley in her announcement video titled ‘Strong and Proud’. “I was different.”
In the video, Haley called for a “new generation of leadership” and previewed several domestic policy items such as “fiscal responsibility” and tighter border controls.
With a degree in accounting, Haley worked as a bookkeeper for her family’s international apparel business before entering politics in 2004 and serving three terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
In 2010, Haley launched what many billed as a longshot campaign for South Carolina governor. Despite little statewide recognition, Haley racked up a number of high-profile endorsements including from incumbent South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R).
She defeated then-State Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D) for the post, winning 51.4% of the vote and became, at 38, the nation’s youngest governor at the time.
Under Trump, Haley became the first Indian American to serve in the Cabinet. Since leaving the Trump administration in 2018, Haley has walked a fine line with her former boss, praising his policies and accomplishments in office while also criticizing Trump’s many controversies.
Following the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol, Haley told an RNC crowd that Trump’s “actions will be judged harshly by history.” However, she opposed Trump’s impeachment for his involvement with the Capitol attack.
Haley previously said she would not run against her former boss if Trump opted to run again. But earlier this year, Haley reportedly began gearing up to launch her campaign, hiring campaign staff and shoring up donors.
Haley did seek out Trump’s input regarding her 2024 run. “I talked to her for a little while,” Trump told reporters last month, “I said, ‘Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run.’ She’s publicly said that ‘I would never run against my president. He was a great president.’
Haley will likely face stiff competition in the race for the GOP nomination from other potential candidates including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — all reported to be weighing their own 2024 presidential runs and looking to appeal to Republicans wishing to move away from Trump.
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