Former South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley announced Tuesday morning she is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
But according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released immediately after her announcement, she has quite a hill to climb.
Haley, who worked in the Trump White House as U.N. ambassador, was the first Republican to declare she will challenge former President Donald Trump for the nomination.
Others will certainly follow, but for now, the GOP race is Haley versus Trump, who announced his campaign in November.
Haley took a few subtle jabs at her old boss and others in the party as she portrayed herself as the only person capable of taking the party into the future.
“Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections,” she said. “That has to change.”
Get excited! Time for a new generation.
Let’s do this! ? ?? pic.twitter.com/BD5k4WY1CP
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023
Haley’s assessment of the GOP is accurate. The party must do a better job at courting independent voters and firing up the base to not only show up to the polls but to motivate their friends and family members to follow suit.
However, if the poll released Tuesday is an accurate snapshot of how she is viewed by voters, Haley’s candidacy might very well end early during what is sure to be a grueling and hard-fought primary campaign.
According to Reuters/Ipsos, which surveyed 1,465 registered Republicans from Feb. 6 to Monday, Trump leads a current field of declared and potential candidates with a plurality of 43 percent saying they would support him.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is keeping his cards close to his vest, came in second with 31 percent.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has hinted he is exploring a potential run, got the support of 7 percent of those polled by Reuters/Ipsos.
Haley came in fourth place with the support of 4 percent of registered Republicans.
On its methodology, Reuters reported the poll’s “credibility interval, a measure of precision, was about 3% for registered Republicans.”
More polls will follow, but the 2024 race is officially upon us and the field is starting to take shape.
The biggest question seems to be whether DeSantis will throw his hat into the ring.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
