Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is scheduled to travel to New Hampshire next week, one day after she is expected to formally announce that she is running for president in 2024.
The 51-year-old Republican is expected to launch her campaign on Feb. 15 at an event in Charleston, South Carolina, multiple media outlets announced last month. An email sent to media members this week said she will head to New Hampshire following her "special announcement," where she will hold town halls on Feb. 16 in Exeter and on Feb. 17 at Saint Anselm College's renowned New Hampshire Institute of Politics in Manchester.
Haley served as South Carolina’s governor for six years before serving as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. When she enters the race, she will be the first contender to join the contest against her former boss, who is currently the sole Republican seeking his party’s 2024 nomination.
During the Trump administration, Haley feuded at times with other White House officials while bolstering her own public persona. Her 2018 departure fueled speculation that she would challenge Trump in 2020, or replace Vice President Mike Pence on the ticket, but Haley did neither.
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Instead, Haley returned to South Carolina, where she bought a home on Kiawah Island, joined the board of aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. and launched herself on the speaking circuit, reportedly commanding fees as high as $200,000. She penned two books, a step commonly taken by many on the road toward the White House.
After the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, Haley initially cast doubts on Trump’s political future but said she wouldn’t challenge him in 2024.
In 2021, Haley told The Associated Press that she “would not run if President Trump ran,” but she has since shifted course, ramping up activity through her Stand for America nonprofit and political action committee, and endorsing dozens of candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.
Late last year, during a visit to her alma mater, Haley told an audience at Clemson University that she would be “taking the holidays” to consider a run.
Asked recently why she is now considering a run in spite of her 2021 comments, Haley told Fox News “a lot has changed,” referencing, among other things, U.S. economic troubles.
She went on to say she felt she could be part of “new generational change,” an indirect reference to Trump’s advanced age.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
