Nikki Haley doubles fundraising haul in latest quarter as campaign momentum continues

Haley’s campaign manager declares GOP primary a ‘two-person race’

Nikki Haley is reporting her strongest fundraising quarter so far as the former governor and ambassador storms into January ascendant in polling, money and attention.

The Haley campaign reported on Wednesday that it had taken in a “stunning” $24m in contributions in the final quarter of 2023. The total, campaign officials said in a press release, was more than double any previous quarter’s fundraising sum.

Her impressive haul is indicative of one thing: She is heading into the beginning of primary and caucus season with serious momentum behind her campaign, and may very well now be the Republican with the most credible chance of dethroning Donald Trump as the frontrunner for her party’s nomination. Mr Trump remains far ahead of Ms Haley in national polling of the Republican field, but has seen his former representative to the UN close the gap in New Hampshire. She has simultaneously pulled ahead of Ron DeSantis in some Iowa polling, too.

Now, her campaign faces the prospect of delivering an embarrassing rout to Mr DeSantis in the first-in-the-nation contest in Iowa this month; such a victory would propel her into the second state, New Hampshire, with a winner’s mentality (even if she remains far behind Mr Trump).

Her Q4 fundraising haul is actually only a few million more than the haul Mr DeSantis drew in the immediate wake of his much-hyped campaign announcement last year. The Florida governor, however, has sagged in polling since his entrance into the race and faces continued criticism for robotic-seeming interactions with voters. Her fundraising also lags far behind Mr Trump’s Q3 total, though donations to his aligned Save America PAC are also contributing to the former president’s legal defence fund.

Officials with the Trump and DeSantis campaigns have yet to announce their respective Q4 totals.

Next week, Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis are set for a one-on-one debate in Iowa, five days ahead of the caucuses. The two are understood to be battling for second place in the state, while frontrunner Donald Trump continues to refuse to even participate in the traditional practice of debating his opponents live, on camera. Next week’s matchup will be the first debate solely between the two would-be runners-up; CNN’s polling and fundraising benchmarks for participation in the contest have excluded lower-performing challengers Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Iowa polling, while sparse, has indicated that Ms Haley is rising in support there too; such a dynamic is devastating news for Mr DeSantis, who had poured much of his campaign’s focus and resources into the state while his rival did the same in New Hampshire. He remains the only 2024 Republican candidate (so far) to complete the “Full Grassley” — a tour of Iowa’s 99 counties named after the state’s senior Republican senator. He also enjoys the endorsement of Kim Reynolds, Iowa’s governor; Ms Haley, in contrast, has won the support of New Hampshire’s Gov Chris Sununu.

A statement from the Haley campaign on Thursday touting the news of her surge in donations tried to ice Mr DeSantis out of the conversation entirely, suggesting that the collapse in support for his campaign was more pronounced than statewide polling has yet indicated.

“This is a two-person race between Nikki Haley and Donald Trump,” stated Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney in the press release. “Nikki is the only Trump alternative with the voter support, the operation, and the resources to go the distance. Our momentum continues to build as we head into 2024.”