COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – It’s shaping up to be an exciting time for politics in the state of South Carolina, a state that’s usually a test of national viability for a candidate to do well.
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is now expected to announce a 2024 presidential bid this month.
“I think that’s great,” Greenville resident Brenda Rutledge. “We need a woman in there and she is the woman.”
“She’s got a leadership pack,” Department chair and Professor of Political Studies, Trevor Rubenzer said. “She has got some financial support. She has been traveling. She is probably someone who is going to get some decent early endorsements so I think this makes sense for her to go in early.”
As a Republican who worked under former president trump’s leadership as the UN Ambassador to the United Nations, Haley said in 2021 she would not run against Trump. Now casting herself as a new-generation politician, political experts believe Haley could have an advantage in that race.
“She can basically say you get all the policy stuff that you would get from supporting former President Trump,” Rubenzer said. “The stances on immigration, gay marriage, abortion, labor, relations, and trade all of those sorts of things but you get them in a main-line politician that can actually talk to the other side.”
7 NEWS spoke with some South Carolina natives who say they believe Haley is the one for the job.
“I hope that she will make our economy pumping again,” Greer resident Blake Kirsch said. “When she was the governor of South Carolina she turned this state on its head. She had a short time to do what she did and she absolutely killed it. If she can do that with the entire country we would be in such a better place.”
Haley is not the only one who is seemingly making a run, however. Many believe there could also be a potential presidential run for South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott. However, while neither has officially announced their run, political leaders believe Trump’s recent visit to South Carolina over the weekend now means more.
“He (Trump) knows that South Carolina is an important state and that it would basically be the death nail to the Haley campaign or a Scott campaign if Trump beat them in their own state,” Rubenzer said.
“While we wait for the official announcement from potentially both Haley and Scott. political leaders believe both could be candidates for cabinet officials if not President.
