Nikki Haley is having a moment

Can the former UN ambassador make it last through 2024?

Nikki Haley speaking in front of an American flag
Nikki Haley's support 'increased from about 2% to 9% among voters over 50'
(Image credit: Peter Zay / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In the wake of the first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 election season, it's Vivek Ramaswamy, a political neophyte and self-proclaimed "anti-woke" crusader, who has emerged as the breakout GOP star to watch, winning the "online attention contest," according to The Washington Post, while enjoying rare praise from current nomination front-runner Donald Trump, who lauded Ramaswamy's "big WIN" that evening. Among a growing cohort of Republican insiders and observers, however, it's not Ramaswamy who merits the attention but former South Carolina Governor and onetime UN Ambassador Nikki Haley instead. With a solid debate performance and subsequent polling bump, Haley has become the "lone adult among the candidates" with a shot at overtaking Trump, according to Mark McKinnon at Vanity Fair. Ramaswamy may have become the post-debate media darling, agreed Brittany Bernstein at National Review, but it's Haley who "seems to have made the most of her time on the stage."

While still polling largely in the single digits, Haley is nevertheless clearly having a much-needed moment just as the Republican primary race is picking up steam. But can she make it last?

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Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.