ROCK HILL, South Carolina (Reuters) – Backers of Nikki Haley’s quest for the Republican presidential nomination are pouring money into states that hold early March nominating contests in a bid to keep her candidacy alive, regulatory filings and pro-Haley political operatives said.
Those efforts have ramped up in recent days and reflect a growing belief that Haley will not pull off an upset win in her home state of South Carolina, where former President Donald Trump holds a deep well of support.
The former governor has been crisscrossing the state ahead of its Saturday primary but has largely failed to chip away at Trump’s lead in opinion polls of more than 30 points
Six analysts and people supporting Haley’s nomination now say the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations will have her best – and last – shot to claw back into the race during the first five days of March.
That’s when voters from 21 states and territories go to polls, most of them on March 5 for “Super Tuesday.” Many of those states, like Massachusetts and Virginia, are laced with college-educated suburbanites who turned out for Haley in earlier nominating contests elsewhere.