While former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trade blows in the headlines, Nikki Haley’s campaign told NHJournal it is putting the building blocks of a winning campaign in place on the ground in the Granite State.
That includes naming campaign chairpeople for key counties and the former U.N. Ambassador’s pledge to continue to campaign in person in the First in the Nation primary.
“Nikki Haley has crisscrossed the Granite State, holding town halls, answering every question, and meeting voters face-to-face,” said Haley Campaign spokesman Ken Farnaso. “Unlike some other candidates, she doesn’t parachute in and out. She puts in the time and effort on the ground because she believes every vote must be earned. No one will outwork Nikki Haley.”
And sharing the work with Haley will be her state campaign co-chairs:
- General Don Bolduc – Rockingham County
- Jeanene Cooper – Rockingham County
- Kim Rice – Hillsborough County
- Melinda Tourangeu – Hillsborough County
- Mary Mayville – Merrimack County
Also New Hampshire State Co-Chairs:
- Bill Sommers and Joanne Sommers, Cheshire County
- Paul Lange, Belknap County
Bolduc, who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate last year, was one of Haley’s first high-profile supporters.
“There’s only one tough-as-nails conservative in this race who’s taken on Republicans, Democrats, and our foreign enemies—and won,” Bolduc said. “Nikki Haley is the woman in the arena and is a fearless defender of American values at home and abroad. She’ll be a commander-in-chief we all can be proud of.”
Haley announced her leadership team the same day former Texas Congressman Will Hurd announced he was entering the race. Reports began circulating that U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) may also join it. If he does, that would bring the number of serious candidates (current or former officeholders or candidates polling above one percent) to an even dozen.
Haley served as governor of South Carolina before Trump tapped her to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. According to her campaign, she has participated in 29 grassroots events in the state. She has a town hall event in Hollis scheduled for Tuesday.
She will join Polaris National Security and Morgan Ortagus the next day for their “America the Great Tour” in Portsmouth for a conversation on foreign policy and national security.
Haley was the first major candidate to enter the race after Trump formally announced he was running. A packed house in Exeter greeted her for her first campaign event in the state but has since struggled to gain traction. The latest NHJournal/coeffecient poll has Haley at three percent. A recent National Research poll of the Granite State put her at five percent.
Still, supporters insist she has the right mix of experience, ideology, and attitude to match the current political moment. And it doesn’t hurt that in a field of a dozen Republicans, she is the only woman.
“It’s time to move on from the chaos of the past and show the country what the Republican Party is capable of,” added former House Speaker Pro Tempore Kim Rice. “Nikki Haley is exactly the woman for the job.”
