On Tuesday, Nikki Haley received a significant boost in her attempt to claim the Republican presidential nomination. The powerful Koch political network has endorsed the former UN Ambassador in the primary over both former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The endorsement by Americans for Prosperity will give Haley more resources as the campaign enters its final phase.
The New York Times reports:
The commitment by the network, Americans for Prosperity Action, bolsters Ms. Haley as the campaign enters the final seven weeks before the first nominating contest. Since the first Republican primary debate, Ms. Haley has steadily climbed in polls, even as Mr. DeSantis has slipped. Former President Donald J. Trump remains the dominant front-runner in the race.
“In sharp contrast to recent elections that were dominated by the negative baggage of Donald Trump and in which good candidates lost races that should have been won, Nikki Haley, at the top of the ticket, would boost candidates up and down the ballot,” reads the memo from Emily Seidel, a senior adviser to Americans for Prosperity Action, who adds that Ms. Haley would win “the key independent and moderate voters that Trump has no chance to win.”
The memo goes on to say that the country “is being ripped apart by extremes on both sides,” adding: “The moment we face requires a tested leader with the governing judgment and policy experience to pull our nation back from the brink. Nikki Haley is that leader.”
Established in 2004, AFP is a free-market advocacy group. The group came to prominence in 2012 when it began running attack ads against the reelection of Barack Obama and became heavily involved in grassroots initiatives.
In 2016, the group failed to stop Donald Trump from winning the nomination and sat out much of that year’s election. Despite having many staffers in his administration with ties to the organization, the group again refused to back Trump in 2020.
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