Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is throwing a Hail Mary to secure the GOP nomination by depending on some unexpected allies to boost her ahead of her competitor, former President Donald Trump.
The former United Nations ambassador is relying on a long-shot strategy that would require independents and Democrats in 13 primary states who are not sold on President Joe Biden and are determined to keep Trump, who is in the midst of multiple legal challenges, from winning the Republican nomination.
“The Republican Party has to be a story of addition again, not subtraction. Trump lost races we should have won in 2018, 2020, and 2022,” Haley’s spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas told NBC News. “If Republicans want to start winning again, we have to start bringing in new voters, including conservatives, independents, and Democrats who are fed up with Joe Biden.”
Haley’s campaign is reportedly counting on the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary, Feb. 27 Michigan primary, and 11 of the other 16 states that hold a Super Tuesday primary in which voters from any party affiliation can vote.
Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney said in a memo after the New Hampshire primary that the approaching open primaries were “significant fertile ground for Nikki.”
Although, Haley’s plan is unpopular among some Republican voters and leaders, who have accused Democrats of taking advantage of open primaries to vote against Trump.
“The Democrats want [Haley] to run, desperately. So they have a lot of Democrats signing up in New Hampshire, but I don’t think it’s going to matter,” Trump said ahead of the New Hampshire primary where he dealt a blow to Haley by finishing 11 points ahead of her.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A spokesperson for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told Axios that Haley’s open-primary strategy is her only option to beating Trump but “was tested in New Hampshire” and resulted in a win for the former president.
“Her challenge is that most people who vote in Republican primaries are Republican voters, even in open primaries, and most Republicans are choosing Trump,” Republican strategist Alex Conant told the outlet.