Washington — Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is formally launching her 2024 campaign for the White House on Wednesday, addressing supporters at an event in Charleston, South Carolina.
The announcement comes a day after Haley released a video declaring her candidacy for the Republican nomination. She is so far the only GOP challenger to former President Donald Trump, whose administration she served in, though the field of candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination is expected to grow.
Haley, 51, broke barriers when she was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010, becoming the first woman to lead the state and its first Indian-American governor, and would do so again if selected as the GOP presidential nominee as the first woman to top the party’s ticket.
In the video announcing her candidacy, Haley lamented that Republicans lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight elections, which includes Trump’s 2016 win, and said that is a trend “that has to change.”
“It’s time for a new generation of leadership,” she said.
Ahead of Haley’s speech, she received an endorsement from South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, a Trump ally who will attend the event. Following her campaign launch in Charleston, Haley is expected to travel to New Hampshire and Iowa, the first two states on the presidential primary calendar.
Born in Bamberg, South Carolina, to Indian immigrants, Haley rose to prominence during her two terms as governor, notably after she ordered the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds. The move came in response to the racially motivated shooting of nine people by a white supremacist at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015.
She joined the Trump administration as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in January 2017 and departed the post at the end of 2018.
