Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley raised more than $11 million in the first six weeks of her candidacy, her campaign manager says.
Haley, 51, is a former governor of South Carolina and served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration. She announced her candidacy on Feb. 15.
Nearly 96 percent of Haley’s 70,000 contributions came from donors giving $200 or less, according to an April 5 campaign statement. Haley closes the first quarter of 2023 with a war chest of $7.8 million, the statement said.
“In just six weeks, Nikki Haley’s massive fundraising and active retail campaigning in early voting states makes her a force to be reckoned with,” campaign manager Betsy Ankney said in a statement.
“Voters and donors are clearly responding to Nikki’s conservative message and her call for a new generation of leadership to make America strong and proud.
“As Nikki said in her announcement speech in Charleston on Feb. 15, ‘I’ve been underestimated before. That’s always fun.’”
Haley’s initial campaigning has focused heavily on small-scale events such as town halls and meet-and-greets in early voting states. She has conducted 19 such events in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The former president was charged with falsifying business records in connection with the payment of hush money to an adult film actress during the 2016 campaign.
Trump raised nearly $812 million during his 2020 election campaign and more than $350 million for his 2016 run.
Neither candidate’s campaign finance report for the first quarter of 2023, due April 15, is available on the Federal Election Commission website.
Haley, a native of Bamberg, South Carolina, was the first Indian American to hold statewide office in the state and the first to hold a Cabinet-level position in the U.S. government.
While Haley had said she wouldn’t challenge Trump for the GOP nomination in 2024, in announcing her candidacy, she said, “We’ve lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections.”
“Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans,” Haley said. “Well, that ends today.”
Trump responded in a same-day interview, saying, “I’m glad she’s running.”
“I want her to follow her heart—even though she made a commitment that she would never run against who she called the greatest president of her lifetime.”
