WASHINGTON − The Republican battle for the key primary state of South Carolina is already full on, thanks to a unique twist: two South Carolinians running for president.
Nikki Haley and Tim Scott still have a “cordial” relationship, say mutual acquaintances, but their comity will be severely tested as they chase the same kinds of voters in uphill battles to catch former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“They have always been cordial,” said Rob Godfrey, a spokesman for Haley when she was governor of South Carolina. He is so far staying neutral in the presidential race. “I don’t think the presidential election will change that dynamic.”
He added: “At the same time, they are both competitors.”
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A unique battle
Scott’s formal entry into the race this week sets up a unique battle within the Republican Party, one that could go a long way to determining who wins the 2024 presidential nomination. The reason: Scott and Haley both hail from South Carolina, usually a must-win primary state for aspiring GOP presidents.
The vice presidential slot is also a possibility for Haley and Scott, though both say they are running for president rather than running mate.
Who is Nikki Haley?
Haley, 51, and Scott, 57, are also among the most unique presidential candidates ever: a woman of color and a Black man who have won races in the reddest of red states, representing a party that has struggled with minority votes for decades.
While they are basically contemporaries, Haley became more of a national figure first – and also became responsible for putting Scott in the Senate.
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley was a businesswoman who entered elected politics by winning a state legislative race in 2004. Six years later, Haley rode the Tea Party protest movement to an upset win in the Republican gubernatorial primary, tantamount to election in GOP-leaning South Carolina.
During her first term, Haley got the chance to fill a U.S. Senate seat thanks to the surprise resignation of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. In late 2012, Haley announced the appointment of a young congressman from the Charleston area: Tim Scott.
Who is Tim Scott?
A businessman and long-time member of the Charleston County Council, Scott won election to South Carolina’s legislature in 2008. Just two years later, Scott pursued and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from the Charleston area.
After being sworn in to the Senate in early 2013, Scott built a reputation as a deregulating, pro-law enforcement religious conservative who was willing to work with some Democrats on specific bills.
Now Scott and Haley are contesting each other, quests that hinge in part on the same kinds of voters in the same state.
Haley and Scott for president
Although Haley once said she would not run if Trump did, the former governor in February became the first official Republican challenger to Trump and his bid to regain the White House in 2024.
In succeeding weeks, Scott and his supporters amped up talk about his own presidential bid. Along the way, allies of each candidate took to whispered sniping about the other candidate, though the two principals remained friendly enough.
“There might be some tensions between the staffs,” said Katon Dawson, a former South Carolina Republican Party chairman who is backing Haley. “There’s not tension between Nikki and Tim. They get along fine.”
“There’s going to be some tension because this is a race for president,” he added.
The key: South Carolina
At some point, Haley and Scott will have to critique each other, especially in South Carolina.
“They could very easily be competing for the very same voters,” said Gibbs Knotts, professor of political science at the College of Charleston.
Knotts, co-author of the book “First in the South: Why South Carolina’s Presidential Primary Matters,” said Trump is probably the favorite at this point.
But Haley or Scott, or both, could make things interesting if they hold their political ground – or if they split non-Trump voters and help the former president prevail. “It almost feels like it’s going to be a three-way race between them,” Knotts said.
It is probably a “must-win” state, he added. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, the winner of the South Carolina Republican primary has gone on to win the GOP presidential nomination in every election cycle but one, in 2012.
A big fight?
The coming Haley-Scott battle in South Carolina could be brutal – if their candidacies last that long.
History is filled with examples of candidates who couldn’t make it to the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary, much less their home state primaries.
The list ranges from Republican Scott Walker to Democrat Kamala Harris, though the latter wound up as a vice presidential candidate, a job for which the names of Haley and Scott have already surfaced.
Survival in the primaries will likely require an intra-state battle among South Carolina Republicans.
Mikee Johnson, a long-time South Carolina Republican donor who has supported Haley but is backing Scott in the presidential race, also described their relationship as “cordial.” Johnson said he doesn’t expect the competitors to “cross swords,” at least not in the short term.
He added: “It’ll get testy at some point down the road, I’m sure.”
