After a series of second-place finishes on Super Tuesday, Republican former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley appears to be on the verge of ending her presidential campaign.
Reports from outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and NBC News suggest that she will make the announcement at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Haley’s decision to drop out of the race would leave former President Donald Trump as the sole major candidate seeking the GOP nomination. Despite winning in Vermont, Haley faced defeat in 14 out of the 15 voting states on Super Tuesday.
Before Super Tuesday, Haley had accumulated 24 total delegates over six primaries, including just three from her home state of South Carolina. In contrast, Trump had amassed 122 delegates over the same period.
Nikki Haley (Credits: Great Falls Tribune)
Following her loss to Trump in New Hampshire’s primary by over 10 percentage points, Haley had expressed her intention to continue her campaign as long as she continued to see growth in each state.
However, her failure to surpass her New Hampshire performance in South Carolina, where she needed to do better than 43.2% of the vote, signaled challenges ahead.
Despite her initial plans to continue through Super Tuesday, Haley’s path to the nomination became increasingly difficult as Trump continued to win primaries and secure delegates.
With Trump’s legal issues progressing slowly and his daughter-in-law potentially taking on a prominent role in the Republican National Committee, Haley’s hopes of replacing him as the nominee diminished.
Haley’s previous criticism of Trump, particularly regarding his age and mental acuity, makes her an unlikely choice for his running mate. Trump has suggested that Sen. Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, or South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem are more probable picks for the vice presidential slot.
