The Republican Party is bitterly divided over supporting Indian-American Nikki Haley who is facing a run-off on June 22 to bag the party’s nomination for the November’s South Carolina’s gubernatorial elections, a media report said.
Nikki Haley, born Nimrata Randhawa, sought into national limelight recently as she got the maximum votes in the primary elections in June, much ahead of the four other prominent contenders; but could not get the necessary 50 per cent to avoid the run off.
The Politico on Thursday reported that while most of the eminent South Carolina Republican leaders have ganged up against Ms Haley, 38, in days ahead of the run-off, country’s top Republican leaders including Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, and Mitt Romeny, the former Massachusetts governor, have been pushing for her.
Ms Palin and Mr Romney consider Ms Haley as an emerging national Republican leader.
“It’s an unusual spectacle: a rare instance in which state and national GOP interests are utterly divergent and at odds,” Politico said. Ms Haley is facing Mr Gresham Barrett in the June 22 runoff. Politico said Mr Gresham Barrett, backed by a high-priced team of veteran consultants, has launched a two-week, take-no-prisoners assault to defeat her.
“Mr Andre Bauer, who came in a distant fourth in the Republican primary, has endorsed Mr Barrett. So has the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. And some of her statehouse colleagues, after eight tumultuous years of governor Mark Sanford, are determined to stop Ms Haley — a Sanford protégé — from taking the top job,” it reported.
The newspaper said South Carolina’s political insiders are siding with Mr Barrett for a different reason — they expect a Haley victory would result in another toxic legislative-executive relationship, with more statehouse gridlock.