Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley reaffirmed her commitment to remaining in the race on Tuesday, saying she’s “not going anywhere,” no matter what happens in the South Carolina GOP primary this weekend.
“South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere,” said Haley, who is down some 30 points in polling in her home state.
“I’m campaigning every day, until the last person votes, because I believe in a better America and a brighter future for our kids. Nothing good in life comes easy. I’m willing to take the cuts, the bruises, and the name calling. Because the only way you get to the blessing is by going through the pain,” she said, adding that dropping out “would be the easy route.”
Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney has declined to set a specific goal in the Palmetto State, saying only that Haley “wants to be strong in South Carolina and continue to show momentum and continue to gain support” — a strong indicator that her campaign is preparing for a loss.
Trump previously defeated Haley in both Iowa and New Hampshire, and has collected Nevada’s delegates, though the two did not have a head-to-head match there due to a quirk in the state’s nominating process.
But Haley attempted to put a positive spin on the results in her speech on Tuesday.
“Despite being a de facto incumbent, Donald Trump lost 49 percent of the vote in Iowa. In New Hampshire, Trump lost 46 percent of the vote. That’s not good. We’re talking about almost half our voters. What does it say about an incumbent who is losing nearly half his party? It spells disaster in November. We shouldn’t silence these voters, like Trump wants. They have the right to keep speaking out,” she said.
Ankney previously said Haley will “continue to fight as long as we have the momentum and resources to do so.”
Haley’s camp is tempering expectations in South Carolina as it continues to set its sights on a number of upcoming open or semi-open primaries on Super Tuesday. In an open primary, voters do not have to formally register with a political party ahead of Election Day in order to vote in that party’s primary. In a semi-open primary, voters who are not affiliated with a political party can choose which party’s primary they would like to participate in.
Of 874 delegates up for grabs on March 5, nearly two-thirds are in states with open or semi-open primaries, including Texas, Maine, and Virginia. The campaign is eyeing several states that have a large contingent of college-educated voters, suburban voters, and independents, who tend to support Haley over Trump. Those states include Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
Open-primary states may be a bright spot for Haley, Joseph Daniel Ura, who chairs the Clemson University department of political science, previously told National Review. He said Haley may see success particularly in states that are “culturally, politically moderate to progressive, where the Republican Party and Republican partisans might be more open to a kind of moderate appeal.”
Given Trump’s legal troubles, Haley may simply think she has nothing to lose by staying in. “I think she’s trying to capture delegates and looking for a little luck and some help from juries to have his numbers start dropping and then be an alternative even if it goes all the way up to the convention,” says Felkel, the South Carolina–based GOP strategist. “That is the longest of long-shot strategies, but it’s worth considering.”
Haley appeared to address the nothing-to-lose angle in her speech on Tuesday, saying her own political future is “of zero concern.”
“In politics, the herd mentality is enormously strong,” she said. “A lot of Republican politicians have surrendered to it. The pressure on them was too much. They didn’t want to be left out of the club.”
“Of course, many of the same politicians who now publicly embrace Trump privately dread him,” she added. “They know what a disaster he’s been and will continue to be for our party. They’re just too afraid to say it out loud.”
She concluded: “Well, I’m not afraid to say the hard truths out loud. I feel no need to kiss the ring. And I have no fear of Trump’s retribution. I’m not looking for anything from him.”