Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley

Republican Party

Candidate, President of the United States

Prior offices

South Carolina House of Representatives District 87

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Governor of South Carolina

Successor: Henry McMaster

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U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

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Elections and appointments

Next convention

July 16, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Clemson University, 1994

Personal

Religion

Christian: Methodist

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Nimrata "Nikki" Randhawa Haley is the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations serving in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2018. She was the 29th person to serve in the position.

Haley is running in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. She declared her candidacy on February 14, 2023. Click here to read more about her presidential campaign.

After leaving the Trump administration, Haley was a member of the Boeing Board of Directors from April 2019 to March 2020. She also launched Stand for America PAC in January 2021, which she said would be focused on supporting conservative candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.

Haley previously served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, becoming the first Indian-American governor of the state. From 2005 to 2010, Haley served in the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 87, Lexington County.

See Haley's presidential campaign overview and Presidential candidates, 2024, for more information about the 2024 presidential election.

Biography

Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, on January 20, 1972. Her parents—Sikh immigrants Dr. Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa—moved to the state from the Amritsar District of Punjab, India. Haley has two brothers, Mitti and Charan, and one sister, Simran. She graduated from Orangeburg Preparatory School and received a B.S. in accounting from Clemson University in 1994. After finishing college, Haley worked at FCR Corporation, a waste management and recycling company.

Haley later became the chief financial officer for her family's clothing business, Exotica International, which her mother opened as a gift shop when Haley was a child. At age 13, Haley was put in charge of the company's bookkeeping. Later, as CFO, she helped expand Exotica International into a multimillion-dollar company.

In 1998, Haley was named to the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce board of directors. She was named to the Lexington Chamber of Commerce in 2003, and in the same year she became treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners, going on to become its president in 2004.

In 1996, she married Michael Haley; they have two children. Michael Haley, a member of the U.S. National Guard, spent 11 months in Afghanistan training local farmers to grow new types of crops. He was deployed during the second year of Haley's first term as governor.

In 2012, Haley published Can't is Not an Option, an autobiography. In the book, Haley wrote about her personal experiences growing up, including her experiences with child abuse. She also discussed her experiences in politics. In 2019, Haley published With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace, chronicling her time as United Nations Ambassador.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Haley's academic, professional, and political career:

• 2021-Present: Lifetime member of the Clemson University Board of Trustees
• 2021-Present: Founder of Stand for Ameria PAC
• 2019-2020: Member of the Boeing Board of Directors
• 2017-2018: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
• 2011-2017: Governor of South Carolina
• 2005-2010: Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives
• 2003-2004: Member of the National Association of Women Business Owners
• 2003: Member of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce
• 1998: Member of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
• 1994: Graduated from Clemson University

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (2017-2018)

For more information on Haley's tenure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, please visit: Nikki Haley (U.S. ambassador to the U.N.).

President Donald Trump (R) announced Haley as his nominee for U.N. ambassador on November 23, 2016. On January 24, 2017, the Senate voted 96-4 to confirm Haley as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) voted against her confirmation. Haley was the first Indian American to hold a cabinet-level position.

Haley testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 18, 2017.

Nikki Haley confirmation vote, January 24, 2017
Party	Votes for a	Votes against d	Total votes
Democrats	43	3	46
Republicans	52	0	52
Independents	1	1	2
Total Votes	96	4	100

On October 9, 2018, Haley announced that she would resign from the position at the end of the year to take a break from public service. She formally resigned on December 31, 2018.

Governor of South Carolina (2010-2017)

For more information on Haley's tenure as governor of South Carolina, please visit: Nikki Haley (Governor of South Carolina).

Haley was elected governor of South Carolina on November 2, 2010, following a run-off in the Republican primary. She took office on January 12, 2011. She was re-elected in 2014 to a second four-year term in office. She did not finish her second term. Instead, she accepted the position of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration. On November 23, 2016, Haley said, "I always expected to finish the remaining two years of my second term as governor, [but I was] moved to accept this new assignment [out of a] sense of duty. When the President believes you have a major contribution to make to the welfare of our nation, and to our nation's standing in the world, that is a calling that is important to heed."

Haley's election in 2010 made her the first Indian-American woman to become governor of South Carolina and the second Indian-American governor in the United States after Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R).

In 2012, Haley announced the appointment of Tim Scott (R) to replace Jim DeMint (R) in the Senate upon his departure to become President of the Heritage Foundation. Scott became the first black Senator from the South since Reconstruction. Scott was subsequently elected in a special election in 2014.

In 2016, Haley was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

South Carolina General Assembly

Haley was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010.

She was first elected to the chamber in 2004 to represent District 87. In the primary, she advanced to a run-off with incumbent Larry Koon (R), the longest-serving legislator in the South Carolina Statehouse. She defeated him 55 to 45% in the run-off and was unopposed in the general election. She was named chairwoman of the Freshman Caucus in 2005 and majority whip for the House Republican Caucus in 2006. She served on the Education and Public Works Committee.

Elections

2024

Haley announced her candidacy for the 2024 presidential election on February 14, 2023. Click the links below to read more about the 2024 presidential election:

• Nikki Haley presidential campaign, 2024
• Presidential candidates, 2024
• Democratic presidential nomination, 2024
• Republican presidential nomination, 2024

Haley in the news

See also: Editorial approach to story selection for presidential election news events

This section features up to five recent news stories about Haley and her presidential campaign. For a complete timeline of Haley's campaign activity, click here.

• January 3, 2024:
  • Haley wrote an op-ed for the Des Moines Register titled “Nikki Haley: Ending reckless spending will boost our economy and stop inflation.” Haley wrote, “My highest priority as president will be to keep Americans safe. That’s why I’ll veto any bill that doesn’t get us back to pre-pandemic spending levels and end hundreds of billions in corporate bailouts and special-interest handouts. I’ll reform entitlements, the biggest drivers of our national debt, while protecting everyone who depends on Social Security and Medicare.”
  • Haley campaigned in Kingston, New Hampshire.
  • Haley campaigned in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
  • Haley campaigned in Londonderry, New Hampshire.
• January 2, 2024: Haley campaigned in Rye, New Hampshire.
• December 30, 2023: Haley campaigned in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• December 29, 2023:
  • Haley campaigned in Dubuque, Iowa.
  • Haley campaigned in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
  • Haley campaigned in Concord, New Hampshire.

2014

See also: South Carolina Gubernatorial election, 2014

Haley ran for a second term as governor in the 2014 elections and won re-election.

Haley won the Republican nomination, running unopposed in the primary on June 10. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

In February 2013, Haley's plan was to wait until the legislative session concluded on June 6 to announce her final decision about whether to enter the race. By late June, Haley still had not made a decision, saying, "If we look and it’s too much on the family, I could absolutely see not running again.” On August 26, 2013, she officially launched her re-election campaign.

Results

General election

Governor of South Carolina, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Nikki Haley Incumbent	55.9%	696,645
	Democratic	Vincent Sheheen	41.4%	516,166
	Libertarian	Steve French	1.2%	15,438
	Independent	Tom Ervin	0.9%	11,496
	United Citizens	Morgan Reeves	0.5%	5,622
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	934
Total Votes				1,246,301
Election results via South Carolina State Election Commission

Debates

October 14 debate

Charleston State University hosted a debate featuring all five candidates for governor, though Nikki Haley (R) and Vincent Sheheen (D) trained their attention against each other on the issue of ethics. Sheheen struck at Haley for past accusations of illegal lobbying during her time as a state legislator, arguing that the state would never be led in the right direction with Haley in office. Haley responded that she was cleared of charges twice by the state House in 2012 and that Sheheen voted against a proposed ethics reform law twice over the past two years. Sheheen claimed that the Republican-supported reform would not go far enough to deal with lobbying concerns.

The three third-party candidates discussed their stances on marijuana legalization and job creation. Independent candidate Tom Ervin argued against the legalization of marijuana, suggesting that medical evidence showed lowered intelligence from habitual use. United Citizens Party candidate Morgan Reeves countered Ervin's points by stating that marijuana first existed in the "imagination of God" and could produce tax revenue for the state. Libertarian Party candidate Steve French opposed increasing the state's minimum wage and compared jobs to sex by saying, "You shouldn't brag about it if you have to pay for it." On the issue of jobs, Haley pointed to a previous announcement that 57,000 jobs would be created throughout the state; Sheheen suggested that only half of those jobs have been created in her first term.

2010

See also: South Carolina gubernatorial election, 2010

On November 2, 2010—in the first open gubernatorial election in South Carolina since 1994—Haley defeated Vincent Sheheen (D) by a little less than 60,000 votes out of nearly 1.3 million ballots cast for governor. She became South Carolina's first female governor when she took office on January 12, 2011.

South Carolina Governor, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Nikki Haley	51.4%	690,525
	Democratic	Vincent A. Sheheen	46.9%	630,534
	Green	Morgan Bruce Reeves	0.9%	12,483
	UNC	Morgan Bruce Reeves	0.6%	7,631
	Write-In	Various	0.2%	3,025
Total Votes				1,344,198
Election results via South Carolina Election Commission

Republican runoff

While Haley received 49 percent of all ballots cast among the four candidates in the 2010 gubernatorial primary, she did not receive the 50 percent-plus-one needed to secure the nomination outright, necessitating a runoff. Her opponent was Gresham Barrett, who had finished second in the primary with 21.8 percent of the Republican vote. The runoff was held June 22, and Haley won.

2010 Race for Governor - Republican Runoff
Candidates		Percentage
Nikki R. Haley (R)		65.1%
Gresham Barrett (R)		34.9%
Total votes		359,334

Republican primary

2010 Race for Governor - Republican Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Nikki R. Haley (R)		48.9%
Gresham Barrett (R)		21.8%
Henry McMaster (R)		16.9%
Andre Bauer (R)		12.5%
Total votes		422,251

Endorsements

Haley's campaign received several high-profile endorsements.

• Before the primary, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) traveled to Columbia to campaign with Haley.

• On December 7, 2009, Erick Erickson of RedState announced support for Haley in the 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election. He stated, "Nikki Haley is one of us. Now we need to stick up for her and fund her. If you have money, give it. If you have time, give it. If you have prayers, offer them up."

• In November 2009, South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford backed Haley to replace her husband, Mark Sandford, in 2011.

2008

In 2008, Haley was re-elected for a third term to the South Carolina House of Representatives with 83.2 percent of the vote—reported as the largest margin of any state representative with a contested general election in South Carolina. According to Lexington County election results, Haley received 17,043 of the total votes. Edgar Gomez, the Democratic candidate, received 3,446 (16.8 percent) of the vote.

Haley raised $170,815 for her campaign, while Gomez raised $2,600.

South Carolina House of Representatives, District 87 (2008)
Candidates		Votes
Nikki Haley (R)		17,043
Edgar Gomez (D)		3,446

2006

Haley ran unopposed and was elected to a second term. In 2006, Speaker Bobby Harrell appointed Haley as House Republican whip. In 2006, she served on the House Labor, Commerce & Industry Committee.

2004

In the 2004 election, Haley defeated then-longest-serving Representative Larry Koon, who had served since 1975. In the primary election, Haley won 40 percent (2,247 votes) of the total, and Koons won 42 percent (2,354 votes). In light of the close election, both candidates faced each other in a runoff. Haley won 54.7 percent (2,928 votes) of the runoff total, defeating Koon. Since there was no Democratic challenger, Haley ran unopposed and won the seat.

Campaign donors

2023-2024

See also: Presidential election campaign finance, 2024 and Nikki Haley presidential campaign, 2024

To read about Haley's campaign finance during the 2024 presidential election, click here.

2008-2014

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The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Nikki Haley campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2014	South Carolina Governor		$8,411,693
2010	SC Governor		$3,968,865
2008	SC State House		$166,542
2006	SC State House		$88,831
2004	SC State House		$79,301
Grand total raised			$12,715,232
Source: [ Follow the Money]

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. See the table below for more information about the campaign donors who supported Nikki Haley. Click [show] for more information.

Nikki Haley Campaign Contributions
	2014 South Carolina Governor		2010 South Carolina Governor		2008 House-District 87
Total raised	$8,411,693		$3,968,865		$166,542
Total raised by opponents	$4,293,914 (Ind)		$3,615,054 (Dem)		$2,600 (Dem)
Top 5 contributors	South Carolina Republican Party	$50,000	South Carolina Republican Party	$25,000	House Republican Caucus of South Carolina	$4,636
	USAA	$17,500	Senate Republican Caucus of South Carolina	$25,000	Takeda Pharmaceuticals	$2,000
	Southport Lane	$14,408	Free & Strong American PAC	$14,000	Scana Corp	$2,000
	Hospital Corp of America	$10,500	Chad Walldorf	$10,500	Lexington County Republican Party	$2,000
	American Insurance Association	$7,000	David Ellison	$10,500	South Carolina Trucking Association	$2,000
Individuals	$5,517,305		$2,557,555		$55,694
Institutions	$2,890,888 ($3,500 other)		$1,239,480		$103,048
In-state donations	$4,543,383		$2,790,784		$131,705
Out-of-state donations	$3,868,310		$1,177,906		$36,473

Presidential preference

2016 presidential endorsement

✓ Haley endorsed Marco Rubio for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

See also: Endorsements for Marco Rubio

Possible 2016 Republican vice presidential candidate

See also: Possible vice presidential picks, 2016

Haley was mentioned in 2016 as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate. Click here for the full list of those who were floated by politicians and news outlets as possible running mates.

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Nikki Haley endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

Noteworthy events

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2371 (2017)

In August 2017, during her tenure as U.N. ambassador, Haley helped pass stricter sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear program. Trump had said he would take military action against North Korea, and Haley later told The Atlantic she used Trump’s rhetoric to encourage the other members of the U.N. Security Council to approve increased sanctions on North Korea. The sanctions included a ban on the country’s top exports of iron and coal which would reduce the country’s revenue by $1 billion.

U.N. "Status of Jerusalem" Resolution (2017)

On December 6, 2017, President Trump announced plans to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In response, Egypt proposed a resolution to the U.N. Security Council condemning the move. Haley said that Trump would be “taking names of those who vote to reject Jerusalem recognition” when it was brought before the General Assembly. The resolution, entitled “Status of Jerusalem,” declared that no diplomatic missions should be located in Jerusalem and passed the General Assembly with a vote of 128 in favor and 9 against, with 35 abstentions.

Sanctions on Russia and Syria (2018)

In April 2018, Haley announced sanctions against Russian companies aiding Syrian chemical weapons programs following a chemical weapons attack that left 70 dead. The next day, Trump administration economic advisor Larry Kudlow said, "She got ahead of the curve. She's done a great job. She's been a great ambassador, but there might have been some momentary confusion about that." Haley replied, saying "With all due respect, I don’t get confused."

State of the Union response (2016)

Haley delivered the Republican response to President Barack Obama's (D) State of the Union address on January 12, 2016. Click here to read the full text of the address and Haley's response.

Signing of SB 897: Removal of Confederate flag from South Carolina Capitol buildings (2015)

On June 22, 2015, Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina's capitol grounds following the mass shooting at the African Methodist Church on June 17, 2015, where nine people were killed, including state Senator Clementa Pinckney (D). During the press conference, Haley told reporters, "This flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state." The flag could only be taken down with two-thirds majority votes in both the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina State Senate. Haley had previously supported the flag's use as a symbol of the South's heritage.

The Senate passed SB 897 by a vote of 37-3 on July 6, and by a vote of 36-3 on July 7. The House passed the bill by a vote of 93-27 on June 8, and by a vote of 94-20 on July 9. On July 10, after flying for 54 years, the flag was removed and placed on exhibit at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.

Common Core replacement (2014)

Haley signed legislation in June 2014 requiring the state to replace Common Core with new educational standards written by the South Carolina Department of Education after the 2014-2015 school year. The bill replacing Common Core with state-written standards also created a role for the South Carolina State Legislature in reviewing and approving these new standards to prevent the restoration of Common Core under a different name. Haley had previously opposed Common Core, along with outgoing Superintendent Mick Zais, who specifically warned against his eventual successor putting Common Core back in place through such a method.

Recent News

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nikki Haley. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Nikki Haley - Google News

See also

• Donald Trump potential high-level administration appointments
• Nikki Haley (Governor of South Carolina)
• Nikki Haley (U.S. ambassador to the U.N.)

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Samantha Power	U.S. ambassador to the United Nations 2017 – 2018	Succeeded by '
Preceded by Mark Sanford (R)	Governor of South Carolina 2011 – 2017	Succeeded by Henry McMaster (R)
Preceded by -	South Carolina House of Representatives District 87 2004 – 2010	Succeeded by Todd Atwater (R)