Nikki Haley’s Challenge: Keep Anti-Trump GOP Vote, Add Some Trump Backers

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa—The fate of Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign rests on a central question: Can she be all things to all Republicans?

As the Republican presidential primary field begins to narrow, Haley’s rise in polls represents the re-emergence of a more traditional Republican at a time when former President Donald Trump dominates the party.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, has made progress in consolidating the anti-Trump vote. But that won’t be enough to win the nomination, surveys suggest, if she can’t figure out how to peel off at least some Trump support.

Her effort to straddle the two factions, as she has since entering the race in February as the first major candidate to challenge Trump, is a test of whether anyone can unite a party that remains deeply divided over its central figure.

Haley sounds like a pre-Trump Republican when she speaks her “hard truths” on fiscal discipline and entitlement reform, as well as when she calls for support for Ukraine and Israel. More Trump-like tones emerge when she talks about immigration and China.

In an interview, Haley declined to say whether she identifies more with the Trump wing of the party or traditional Republicans.

“I came into the governor’s office as a Tea Party candidate,” she said, seated at the counter of a loose-meat sandwich shop here. “I’m fiscally conservative. I’m a mom. I’m a military spouse. You look at all of these things, I think I’m a conservative Republican.”

Haley would likely be a safer bet for the GOP than Trump in a general election against President Biden, recent national and battleground state polls suggest, in part because she appeals more to the independent voters who typically decide close elections.

But she must first get past Ron DeSantis, who is more closely aligned with Trump on policy and in temperament. The campaigns for Haley and the Florida governor have been increasingly critical of each other as their candidates compete to be the sole alternative to Trump.