Indian American Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is trailing significantly behind her rival Donald Trump in the race for the Republican Party’s nomination, as Trump appears poised to secure the presumptive nominee title after the party’s pivotal Super Tuesday contest.
Both Trump and Haley have been actively campaigning across various Super Tuesday states, making a final push to garner support from Republican voters. Super Tuesday holds great significance in the presidential primaries, marking a phase where multiple states conduct their primaries on the same date following the conclusion of the early contests.
According to RealClearPolitics, a platform tracking national polls, the 77-year-old former president is leading by an average of more than 60 percentage points in various national polls. Haley, aged 51, is not favored by political analysts to pose any significant challenge to Trump, who remains the most prominent figure in the Republican Party in recent times.
Despite facing numerous legal challenges and controversies, Trump continues to draw large crowds to his rallies, while Haley’s events attract comparatively fewer attendees. Super Tuesday sees Republican presidential primaries held in several states, including California, Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Utah, Minnesota, Colorado, Arkansas, Maine, and Vermont.
With more than a third of all Republican delegates at stake on Super Tuesday, it represents the largest delegate haul on the primary calendar. To secure the presidential nomination of the Republican Party, either candidate needs to obtain 1,215 delegates, which are elected during the primaries. Currently, Trump holds 244 delegates, while Haley trails with only 43.
Former Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who withdrew from the presidential race earlier, has nine delegates, and Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has three, both of whom have endorsed Trump after dropping out of the race.
Despite trailing behind her former boss, Haley has shattered several glass ceilings within the party. Recently, she won her first Republican nominating contest, defeating Trump in Washington, DC, and becoming the first woman to achieve such a feat in a Republican presidential primary. Haley is also the first Indian American politician to win a presidential primary in any state within either the Democratic or Republican Party.
Her popularity has been on the rise, with her campaign raising $28 million in January and February alone. In Texas, a significant number of people showed their support for Haley, indicating growing momentum for her candidacy.
In an interview with Fox News, Haley emphasized that her campaign represents a pro-America movement rather than an anti-Trump sentiment. She highlighted the desire for stability and effective governance among voters, aiming to restore faith in the government working for the people.
Haley also pointed out that a significant portion of Americans, about 70%, are dissatisfied with both Trump and the current Democratic President, Joe Biden, indicating a broader desire for change and a fresh approach to leadership.
