Wall Street Donors Keep Haley’s 2024 Run Afloat, Even If Voters Won’t
(Bloomberg) -- Nikki Haley is vowing to press on with her unlikely bid for the Republican presidential nomination, thanks to the backing of Wall Street titans.
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Haley’s second consecutive defeat Tuesday at the hands of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has intensified calls from his supporters for her to exit the race. But wealthy donors and a group funded by industrialist Charles Koch means she has enough funding to keep running.
The question now is how much longer the money will continue to flow. Billionaires Stanley Druckenmiller, Henry Kravis, Ken Langone and Cliff Asness are scheduled to co-host a New York fundraiser for Haley on Jan. 30. If Haley’s well-heeled supporters decide she does not have a path to victory, they could cut off funding and essentially end her candidacy.
Simone Levinson, a Haley backer and a co-host for the fundraiser, said she had not seen any donors drop their support of the candidate.
“People don’t just look at numbers, they look at behavior,” Levinson said, referring to Trump’s combative speech Tuesday night, in which he lambasted Haley. “People are now being reminded of this divisive hate-spewing rhetoric of the Donald. Is this really what you want representing our country, as opposed to Nikki?”
Haley’s campaign also said they raised $1.5 million in the 48 hours after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race on Sunday, a significant fundraising haul.
Haley on Tuesday night called herself a “fighter” looking forward to a showdown with Trump in South Carolina, where she trails badly even though it is her home state, one she served two terms in as governor.
Formidable Path
Still, the road ahead to the nomination looks nearly closed for her. Trump’s lead over her in South Carolina is more than 30 percentage points, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls. Losing in New Hampshire, where the moderate, suburban, highly educated electorate seemed custom-made for her, raises doubts about where else she can win. The states with nominating contests ahead have far more conservative voters.
“We’re undaunted and unbowed,” Eric Levine, another Haley donor involved in the New York fundraiser, said. “As long as she’s in it, we’re in it and we’ll see where it goes.”
“Our donors have been in this for the long haul from the beginning,” Mark Harris, chief strategist for SFA Fund, the main super political action committee backing Haley, said Wednesday. “People are jazzed up and I’m very confident we’ll have the resources we need to continue to fight on.”
She’ll also continue to get support from Americans for Prosperity Action, the super PAC backed by Koch. The group has reserved even more air time in South Carolina but is also a force on the ground, mounting door-knocking efforts to identify Haley supporters and persuade undecided voters.
“Nikki Haley is closing the gap,” said AFP senior adviser Emily Seidel said in a statement. “This is still an uphill battle.”
Donors view Haley, 52, as having a future political career regardless of how the 2024 election plays out, casting their support for her now as an investment in the future.
Advertising War
Haley’s campaign reported raising $24 million in the fourth quarter of last year, an impressive sum from both large and small donors. The super PACs backing Haley are required to file their 2023 year-end financial reports to the Federal Election Commission by the end of the month, which will give more details about the fiscal health of her political operation.
The campaign has booked $1.2 million of ad time in South Carolina so far according to AdImpact, which tracks political advertising. That is part of a planned $4 million buy ahead of the state’s primary, just a month away. Americans for Prosperity has reserved $850,000 worth in the state. Trump and his super PAC have yet to buy air time for the coming weeks.
Haley is running a pair of ads, one that touts her record as South Carolina governor and another that calls a race between Trump and Biden “a rematch that nobody wants.” Those aired for the first time as New Hampshire was still counting ballots early Wednesday morning.
“We are the underdog and in South Carolina. We start out behind and we have to close that gap,” SFA’s Harris said. “That’s the mission in the next month, but a month is a long time in politics.”
--With assistance from Bill Allison, Gregory Korte and Christian Hall.
(Updates with details on fundraising after DeSantis exit in sixth paragraph)
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