Indian-American Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor, and United Nations ambassador, on Tuesday, declared her candidature for president of the US in 2024. She became the first Republican to challenge former boss Donald Trump, who launched his bid in November. “I am Nikki Haley and I am running for president. It’s time for a new generation of leadership — to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border, and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose,” Haley said in a video statement.
Things to know about Nikki Haley:
1) Haley, 51, said in 2021 that she would not run in 2024 if Trump did, but changed her mind in recent months, citing among other things, the country’s economic troubles and the need for “generational change”
2) Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was the youngest and first minority female governor in the country when she was elected in South Carolina in 2010.
3) She is positioning herself as a changemaker who can reinvigorate a party and country she says have lost their way in recent years.
4) Born in 1972 in Bamberg, South Carolina, Nimrata “Nikki” Randhawa — a mother of two — rose quickly in the southern state’s politics, serving in its House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011, when she was elected governor. Her conservative views and outspoken but collegial style were popular in her home state.
5) Before entering the presidential ballot, she has to win the Republican Party’s presidential primary which will start in January next year. The next US presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024.
