Nikki Haley Momentum Train Rolls On, ‘Getting Closer’ to Picking Up Key Early State Endorsement
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley may be on the precipice of securing a key early state endorsement that would be a sign of her campaign’s continued momentum.
At an event in New Hampshire on Thursday, after a day of crisscrossing the state accompanied by Granite State Governor Chris Sununu, Haley asked Sununu directly “Governor, are you ready to endorse me yet?”
“Getting closer every day, getting closer,” replied Sununu.
In Londonderry, @NikkiHaley puts @ChrisSununu on the spot with the first question in her town hall:
Haley: “Are you ready to endorse me yet?”
Sununu: “Getting closer every day, getting closer every day.”#FITN #NHPolitics #WMUR pic.twitter.com/lIYExLsBpB
— Adam Sexton (@AdamSextonWMUR) November 2, 2023
Haley has seen her polling numbers skyrocket in recent months, establishing herself as a second-tier candidate in the race behind former President Donald Trump and alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
In early April, DeSantis boasted the support of nearly 30% of the primary electorate and a firm hold on second place in New Hampshire, while Haley stood a distant third with 6%. Since then, Haley has ascended to second place with 14.8% while DeSantis has fallen off to 10.5%.
Haley is also now in second place in her home state of South Carolina and is hot on DeSantis’s heels in Iowa, tying him in the Des Moines Register‘s gold standard survey in the Hawkeye State earlier this week.
Sununu offered more kind words about Haley on the campaign trail Thursday, arguing that “What Nikki has been able to do is to get the whole country, not just New Hampshire, but the whole country excited.”
“The first two debates were awesome,” he added. “You crushed them. You got people excited. Show the grit, show the understanding of the issues, not just the fortitude, and not just being able to give it and take it, but be able to do it with substance behind it. And that’s what we want.”
Sununu has traveled with and praised other candidates visiting the Granite State, but his ideological sympathies and entertainment of endorsement talk may indicate that he’s preparing to publicly call Haley his favorite.
