Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley listens as she is introduced at a campaign town hall meeting, in Salem, Recent Hampshire, U.S., March 28, 2023.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
Nikki Haley, the previous South Carolina governor and Trump administration official, has emerged as an early favorite of several wealthy donors as she pursues the Republican nomination within the 2024 presidential race.
Team Stand for America, a joint fundraising committee raising money for Haley’s campaign for president, and two other pro-Haley PACs received greater than two dozen contributions from a mixture of billionaires and wealthy executives in the course of the first quarter, in keeping with a CNBC evaluation of latest campaign finance filings.
Oil and gas magnate Harold Hamm, Wall Street titan Aryeh Bourkoff and Recent Balance owner Jim Davis are among the many joint committee’s big donors, in keeping with the records.
A spokeswoman for Haley’s campaign didn’t return a request for comment before publication.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks in front of the Recent Hampshire state flag at a campaign event in Dover, Recent Hampshire, U.S., March 27, 2023.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
Still, several of the largest donors have remained on the sidelines ahead of the GOP primary next 12 months, with some waiting for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to announce whether he’ll run for the White House. Longshot candidate Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, in contrast, loaned over $10 million to his campaign in the primary quarter and relied on about $1 million in contributions from others, including no less than half a dozen wealthy donors, in keeping with his campaign filings.
Each Haley and Ramaswamy are trailing former President Donald Trump, in keeping with the newest public polls. A Fox News survey taken in late March shows Haley with 3% of support from Republican voters, with Ramaswamy holding at 1%. Trump had 54% of participants’ support, with DeSantis picking up 24%. The poll surveyed just over 1,000 registered voters.
Republican megadonors have been in search of a robust alternative to Trump who could win the first and appeal to a broader base of voters in the overall election against President Joe Biden, who has said he’s planning to run for reelection.
Team Stand for America’s filing says the group received individual donations from wealthy donors starting from $5,000 to $16,600. The joint fundraising committee finished raising over $4.3 million, while the Haley campaign itself brought in around $5.1 million, in keeping with FEC records. Team Stand for America transferred about $1.8 million to the Haley campaign on March 31, in keeping with the records.
Nikki Haley, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and 2024 presidential election candidate, speaks on the Conservative Political Motion Conference (CPAC) at Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., March 3, 2023.
Sarah Silbiger | Reuters
Hamm, the manager chairman of oil and natural gas company Continental Resources, donated $16,600 to Team Stand for America last month, in keeping with the filing. Hamm supported former President Donald Trump in the course of the 2016 election and later backed the Trump endorsed Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz. He told the Financial Times in an interview published last 12 months that he didn’t think Trump should run again in 2024.
“Loyalty’s an enormous thing with us — it’s extremely essential with leaders,” Hamm told the FT. “And I wish Trump might have been quite a bit more loyal to his people.” The previous president neglected Hamm to change into Energy secretary in his administration, the FT said.
Hamm and his family are price a combined $18.5 billion, in keeping with Forbes.
Hamm is not the only previous Trump ally turning to assist Haley. Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who said last 12 months that the previous president was a “deeply wounded narcissist,” donated $5,000 to the Haley joint fundraising committee.
Leonard Stern, the CEO of real estate firm Hartz Mountain Industries, contributed the identical amount as Hamm to Team Stand for America in March. Forbes says he has a net price of $7.6 billion.
Stern, Cobb and a spokeswoman for Hamm didn’t return requests for comment before publication.
Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations, during an event in Charleston, South Carolina, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.
Sam Wolfe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The support for Haley indicates a growing desire amongst donors to back a candidate who can beat Biden in 2024, in keeping with one among Haley’s top supporters. Haley appears to be making an appeal to more moderate Republicans while drawing a contrast with Trump. Since she announced her candidacy in February, Haley became the first declared 2024 candidate to go to the southern border to tout her immigration plan.
“In the event you take a have a look at the makeup of the donors at this stage in the sport, you might have people who find themselves Republican donors which can be often involved in presidential elections who see her as a viable candidate that will not just win in the first but additionally in the overall election,” said Ozzie Palomo, a co-founder of lobbying firm Chartwell Strategy Group and a Haley fundraiser.
Other wealthy donors moving to back Haley include Davis, chairman of shoe company Recent Balance, who donated $16,600 to the joint fundraising committee in late March. Davis and his family, which own nearly all of Recent Balance, have a net price of $4.9 billion, in keeping with Forbes.
A Recent Balance spokeswoman didn’t return requests for comment.
Leaders on Wall Street also played a job in helping Haley’s fundraising surge.
Bourkoff, the CEO of investment giant LionTree, contributed $16,600 to Team Stand for America last month. Bourkoff has a history of donating to Democrats running for office, including to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 campaign and Biden’s successful run for the White House, in keeping with data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. Bourkoff didn’t return a request for comment.
Jim Haskel, a partner at hedge fund behemoth Bridgewater Associates, gave the identical amount to the committee in February.
Executives from Goldman Sachs, Susquehanna International Group, UBS Group and Tiger Management, are among the many other Wall Street leaders who donated to the Haley joint fundraising committee in the primary quarter.