“That not what I want my South Carolinians to do”. He spoke with Haley earlier this week and sent his brother, former President George W. Bush, to court her personally when he was in the state.
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Nikki Haley threw her support behind presidential hopeful Marco Rubio Wednesday, ahead of the state’s Republican primary Saturday — the jewel in the crown of Rubio’s Palmetto State endorsements.
Mr Rubio is now in a dogfight with his mainstream “establishment” Republican competitors, Jeb Bush and John Kasich, to emerge as the man best positioned to challenge Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz as the campaign rolls into a crowded March primary calendar.
But he has lagged in recent S.C. polls, falling to fifth in the six-candidate GOP field.
The current leader in SC, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday, is Donald Trump, with 38% support. Cruz, 45, won the first Republican nominating contest in Iowa on February 1 and Trump, 69, won the second one in New Hampshire on February 9. Marco Rubio has received support from Trey Gowdy, the South Carolina Congressman and Chair of the House Select Committee investigating Benghazi.
But what perhaps put Haley in the largest national spotlight were the events surrounding Dylann Roof’s violent slaughter of nine African-American churchgoers in Charleston last summer.
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley, 44, seized the spotlight in January when in the Republican response to Obama’s State of the Union speech, she set herself apart from the party’s presidential candidates by calling for tolerance on immigration and civility in politics.
“She embodies and exemplifies what I want the Republican Party to be known as in the 21st century: vibrant, reform-oriented, optimistic, upwardly mobile”.
Mr Rubio has plenty of ground to make up in SC.
Upon noting Rubio’s third place spot in some GOP polls, Jackson told viewers: “Late tonight, pick up a new endorsement from South Carolina’s popular governor”. Rubio previously favoured a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally, but now says border security is the priority.
A third, David Villinger of Summerville, said Bush should focus less on his record as Florida’s governor and more on his presidential vision. But it comes with some potential risks for both candidate and endorser. “Coming off a winning debate performance on Saturday night, momentum for Marco is growing and more South Carolinians are rallying behind Marco and supporting his vision for a New American Century”. He added that any nominee would be “out of their minds” to not consider her for vice president. “That this matters. So I thought first and foremost as a mom, who wants her children to be safe in our country, who wants our children to have the education and the opportunities so that they can be better than we were, which is what my parents wanted for us”.
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) -Seven Republicans remain heading into Saturday’s SC primary.
Gov. Nikki Haley officially endorsed Florida Sen. She is many ways like Tim Scott, hopefully myself and others hopefully exemplifies what the party should be.
Haley’s endorsement was a big score for Rubio, whose campaign suffered a blow during the New Hampshire primary.
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As for Haley, she has been viewed as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate.
