With a little under a month to go before January’s Iowa caucuses, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s campaign is seeking to capitalize on the momentum her presidential bid has gained in recent months The New York Times reported Monday.
She hopes to reach persuadable voters in the state as the main alternative to former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination,.
Haley received a vital boost last month with the endorsement of Americans for Prosperity Action, whose backing has infused her campaign with funds for television spots and mail advertisements.
In addition, the super PAC founded by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch has a goal to knock on 100,000 doors before the caucuses, said Drew Klein, a senior adviser with AFP Action.
“It’s ground game,” Haley told The Des Monies Register. “We’re making sure that every area is covered.”
Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are battling for a pool of undecided voters, which appears to be dwindling as Trump's lead has increased this month to 51% of Republicans likely to caucus, according to a Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom poll, up from 43% in October.
In the poll, backing for DeSantis rose slightly, to 19%, while Haley’s support remained at 16%.
DeSantis's well-funded ground operation has been active in the state for months, and said it has knocked on more than 800,000 doors. In addition, DeSantis has been endorsed by popular Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and influential evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, according to the Times.
Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for DeSantis, said in a statement that “Nikki Haley’s 11th-hour rent-a-campaign gambit won’t work. Only the Washington establishment would try to pitch that grass-roots success can be bought.”
Jimmy Centers, a Republican strategist in Iowa who is unaligned in the race, said “the open question here in Iowa is, Did Ambassador Haley peak about 30 days too soon, where she is already taking arrows and AFP doesn’t have time to catch up?”
The super PAC countered that its push comes at the right time, because many people are only now beginning to pay attention to the race for the Republican nomination.