Nikki Randhawa Haley, the Indian-American Governor of South Carolina now locked in a fierce re-election contest, holds a 10-point lead over her Democratic challenger ahead of next month’s election, according to a newly-released poll.
A rising Republican star and South Carolina’s first-ever woman governor, Haley faces State Senator Vincent Sheheen, whom she defeated narrowly (51-47 per cent) in 2010.
Haley, who visited New York last week to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attend the Madison Square Garden reception in his honour, leads Sheheen 44-34 per cent, with a little over 12 per cent of likely voters undecided, according to the poll released by Winthrop University.
A cause for cheer for Haley could be the finding that a majority of the respondents (57 per cent) think the economic conditions in South Carolina are fairly good, while more than a third of people believe the conditions are “fairly or very bad”.
“Voters are responding well to Governor Haley’s tremendous achievements in office,” Haley campaign spokeswoman Chaney Adams claimed.
In 2010, Haley overcame a vicious campaign with racial overtones, including from her own Republican Party in the early stages, to defeat Sheheen by about 60,000 votes.
“He’s going to need very strong turnout from the African-American community,” University of South Carolina political scientist Robert Oldendick said of Sheheen.
With the double-digit lead for Haley staring him in the face, Sheheen’s best bet this time would be to go all-out to mobilise from within his own Democratic base, according to political experts quoted by The State newspaper.