Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley has been the Republican governor of South Carolina since November 2010. She previously served in the General Assembly for the 87th District of South Carolina from 2004 to 2010. Haley is also an ALEC alumna. Haley maintains a conservative record by voting in favor of voter ID laws, abortion restrictions, lowering taxes, and was even ranked the 21st most conservative governor in 2013 by Nate Silver.

Nikki Haley, 116th Governor of South Carolina

Ties to ALEC, Koch Brothers

During her years in the South Carolina legislature, Haley was a member of ALEC, a secretive organization that pairs legislators with big corporations to fulfill the needs of big-business, at the expense of consumers. For her possible 2014 re-election bid, a $1,000-per couple fundraiser in South Carolina was held on August 26, 2013, by fellow ALEC governors, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Haley also released a statement commending fellow ALEC member, Gov. Scott Walker, after winning his recall election after his attempt to end public sector collective bargaining rights in 2011:

"Congratulations to my friend, Gov. Scott Walker. Tonight, he proved that standing strong for the principles of fiscal responsibility is not only the right policy, but is rewarded by voters. It's a great example for the rest of the country."

As a advocate for big-business and a "GOP rising star," Haley also joined a Koch brothers meeting in the winter of 2013, to discuss the GOP's failure in the 2012 election.

Political Ideologies

Big-Business Advocate, "War on Rural South Carolina"

With her previous involvement in ALEC, support of the private sector, and commitment to lowering taxes, Haley has strived to bring manufacturing and business back to South Carolina. However, Haley supported the shut down of unemployment claims clinics in 17 of South Carolina's poorest counties because of the lack of funding in 2013, but added, "It's a good thing when you downsize government."

On the recent news portion of the website, Haley continues her surge to bring new and more businesses to South Carolina by commending the expansions and openings of plants and facilities for Monteferro USA, Tognum America Inc., ZFT Transmission, Standard Textile, and more. Each news release also includes the amount of money included in the investment, and how many jobs each expansion will add to the area. Haley has focused much of her efforts on lowering the unemployment rate in the state. As of July 2013, the United States unemployment rate stood at 7.4% while South Carolina has an unemployment rate at 8.1%

Union Busting and "Union Thugs"

Haley believes a highly-unionized state will counter her efforts to attract big businesses to South Carolina, similar to Scott Walker's efforts to eliminate unions in Wisconsin. In a FOX News interview with Gretchen van Susteren, Haley stated her support for Walker's actions and her hope for South Carolina to conform more to Wisconsin's anti-union legislation. During the same interview, Haley spoke of her hatred of union "thugs," and her plans to bust unions in South Carolina, after viewing a video of an opponent hitting a pinata with her image:

• "This is typical of union thugs. And I will tell you in, the past week, the Dems have come after me with a racial slur and the union thugs have hit me with a pinata."
• "I'm not going to stop beating up on the unions. I'm not going to stop beating up on the Democrats for wasteful spending."
• "There's a reason South Carolina's the new "it" state and it's because we're a union buster and it's because we continue to be fiscally responsible and business-friendly. And there's nothing the Democrats or the unions can do to make me change that."
• "It just shows the stark difference between businesses and unions and how they handle -- unions tend to bully and they boss and they try and get their way."

Promoting ALEC-Sponsored Voter ID Laws

Haley promoted a bill in 2011 to require a photo ID to vote in the state, based on claims of much voter fraud occurring during elections. The bill was struck down by a federal court in 2012 for the bills' discrimination toward minority voters. Haley also faced much backlash from House Democratic Leader, Tom Rutherford, after reports surfaced claiming voter fraud was not an issue in South Carolina. Rutherford demanded an apology from Haley from deceiving the public to believe voter fraud was a pressing issue, and wasting taxpayer money for "their incompetence." The bill also did not recognize student IDs as a valid form of identification, greatly lowering the largely-Democratic youth vote.

The "Nightmare" Affordable Care Act

With the federal expansion of Medicaid underway, Haley commended South Carolina House right-wing legislators for their work opposing Medicaid expansion, which she called a "looming public policy nightmare and fiscal disaster."

"If history has proven anything, it's that there is no such thing as a temporary entitlement program, and as House Republicans recognize, ObamaCare will be as bad a policy three years from now as it is today.

Anti-Immigration, Copies Arizona Law

In 2011, Haley signed a law similar to SB 1070 from Arizona that allows authorities to check the immigration status of any person who is arrested or stopped. The law was blocked in December 2011 by a federal judge. Haley said through her spokesperson, Rob Godfrey, that the state has to address illegal immigration because immigration laws are not being enforced on the national level.

Support of Pro-Gun Legislation

In August 2010, Haley was endorsed by the Gun Owners of America during her run during the gubernatorial election. Haley said of the endorsement:

“Few things are as clearly defined as the right of individual Americans to own and use firearms. The right to bear arms was deemed so critical by our Founders that they spelled it out in absolute terms, and it is my belief that any governmental action that undermines that right is in turn undermining the very freedoms that built our great nation. I hold a Concealed Weapons Permit myself, and as governor, I will continue to fight against any government infringement on the 2nd Amendment.”

Education Reform: School Choice, Vouchers, and Businesses

Even though she herself and her children attended public schools, Haley sees ALEC supported school-choice programs, also known as voucher programs, as a necessary fix to South Carolina's struggling school system:

“Parents should be able to decide where they send their kids to school,” Haley said. “So, I have said the second they can get that bill to my desk, I absolutely will sign it.”

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In May 2012, Haley signed H. 3241, the Charter Schools bill, another ALEC piece of model legislation, and said of the new law: ""It is a great day in South Carolina. We will no longer settle for what we think education has to be, we will lead in this country on what education should be -- and that means options, innovation and creativity."

Haley also met with corporations like AT&T, an ALEC corporation member and state co-chair of six states, to talk education reform on July 31, 2013. Pamela Lackey, president of AT&T of South Carolina said South Carolina needed education reform to "meet the needs of today's businesses."

"War on Women", Coverage of Contraception, Pro-Life Stance

Haley says her pro-life stance does not come from her Republican ideology, but of her difficulty to have children, and her husband's adoption as an infant. She also says the mandating of organization to include contraception in their coverage in the Affordable Care Act should not be under government jurisdiction.

In July 2012, Haley also vetoed $500,000 to be used for rape crisis centers, calling them "special add-on lines [that] distrct from the [Department of Health]'s broad mission of protecting South Carolina's public health," despite much opposition because the state's rate of sexual violence is higher than the national average, and has been for the last 30 years.

In terms of the "war on women" during the 2012 election by GOP legislators, Haley says the idea is simply a "distraction" used by the Barack Obama campaign to avoid his record during his 1st term.

"Well, I mean how many times can we say the word "distraction"? That's what President Obama is doing. He doesn't want us talking about his record. He doesn't want us talking about how he has raised more debt in three years than President Bush has in eight. He doesn't want us talking about the fact that he said if we would take the stimulus money we would never get above eight percent unemployment. So this is a President that is trying to create distractions. There is no war on women. Women are doing well."

Awards and Affliations

Membership

Haley has a focus on membership in business, women's, and medical foundations. These affiliations include:

• Director at the Orangebury County Chamber of Commerce (1998)
• Director at the Lexington Chamber of Commerce (2003)
• Treasurer then President of the National Association of Women Business Owners (2003-2004)
• Lexington Medical Foundation
• Lexington County Sheriff's Foundation
• West Metro Republican Women
• Friends of Scouting Leadership Division
• Rotary Club

Awards

Her political awards include:

• "Friend of the Taxpayer" award by the South Carolina Association of Taxpayers (2011)
• "A" rating from the South Carolina Club for Growth
• "A" rating from the Palmetto Family Council
• "A" rating from the National Rifle Association

Biography

Haley was born in Bamburg, South Carolina, and is the daughter of Indian immigrants. She graduated from Clemson University with a bachelor of accounting, and worked as an accountant for a private company, after keeping the books for her family's clothing store.

She has a husband Michael, who serves for the South Carolina National Guard and Army National Guard, and has two children, Rena and Nalin.

Contact

Office of the Governor
1205 Pendleton Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Telephone: (803) 734-2100
Fax: (803) 734-5167