Nikki Haley, $10 million in ads to defeat DeSantis

2023-11-13 22:15:04, Kosova & Bota CNA

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's campaign officials plan to spend $10 million on television, radio and social media ads in the states of Iowa and New Hampshire starting in the first week of December. The goal of this massive investment is for the former ambassador to the United Nations to create an advantage over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a critical moment in the battle to win the official nomination of the Republican Party for the presidential race.

The amount of money for the advertising campaign planned by Ms. Haley is so far five times what Mr. DeSantis is spending on ads over the same period, according to media monitoring company AdImpact.

Ms. Haley's move comes as she seeks to emerge as a possible candidate to replace former President Donald Trump and represent Republicans against President Joe Biden in the 2024 election. Mr. DeSantis is the most likely contender. Mrs. Haley's strong run for second place among the party's candidates. But the Florida governor's campaign has shown signs of financial trouble after a tumultuous summer.

Mr. Trump continues to lead polls among Republicans for the primaries.

Mr. Trump faces four criminal charges, including one that centers on his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia and another related to allegations of efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election that led to the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

In the US, fundraising and advertising strategy can often be more important than a candidate's policies or personality. But the money raised and spent by the candidates shows only part of the reality related to the 2024 election.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, for whom a conservative group had planned $7.5 million in advertising for the Iowa caucuses, dropped out of the race Sunday night. Mr. Scott failed to secure adequate support in national polls and October polls ranked him well behind Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley.

Ms. Haley's campaign officials declined to comment on whether the ads would directly attack Mr. DeSantis or Mr. Trump. But campaign manager Betsy Ankney criticized Mr. DeSantis for his comments that Ms. Haley and other Republicans in the race would only serve "to do harm."