Nimarata Nikki Haley (née Randhawa; born January 20, 1972) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 and as the 29th U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018. A Republican, Haley is the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet. She came in second in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries after Donald Trump.
Haley joined her family's clothing business before serving as treasurer and then president of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004 and served three terms. She was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010, making her the state's first female governor and the second U.S. governor of Indian descent, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. During her time as governor, she received national attention for leading the state's response to the 2015 Charleston church shooting.
In January 2017, Haley became the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the administration of Donald Trump. As U.N. ambassador, Haley was notable for her advocacy for Israel, her defense of the Trump administration's withdrawal of the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement, and her withdrawal of the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council. She stepped down as ambassador on December 31, 2018.
Haley announced her campaign for President of the United States in February 2023. After the Iowa caucuses, Haley and Trump became the only remaining major candidates in the Republican primaries. She campaigned directly against Trump for almost two months. She became the first female Republican presidential candidate to win a presidential primary, and the second woman of color to win a major party nominating contest, after Shirley Chisholm in 1972, with her victory in the Washington DC primary. After losing in all of the Super Tuesday contests, with the exception of Vermont, Haley suspended her campaign on March 6, 2024, and subsequently endorsed Trump. On April 15, 2024, the Hudson Institute announced Haley would join the think tank as the next Walter P. Stern Chair.
Haley was born as Nimarata Nikki Randhawa at Bamberg County Memorial Hospital in Bamberg, South Carolina, to immigrant Punjabi Jat Sikh parents from Amritsar, Punjab, India. Before moving to North America, her father, Ajit Singh Randhawa (1933–2024), was a professor at Punjab Agricultural University, and her mother, Raj Kaur Randhawa (1936–2025), received her law degree from the University of Delhi. They had an arranged marriage and moved in 1964 when Ajit accepted a PhD program scholarship from the University of British Columbia. After Ajit graduated in 1969, he began as a professor at Voorhees College, a historically black institution, and the family settled in South Carolina. Raj earned a master's degree in education and taught social studies in the Bamberg Public Schools for seven years. She founded a successful women's boutique, Exotica International, where she began to work full time. Nikki began assisting with bookkeeping when she was 12. The business expanded to menswear in 1993, with The Gentlemen's Quarters, and both stores remained open until Raj retired in 2008.
Haley has two brothers and a sister. She attended Orangeburg Preparatory Schools, graduating in 1989. She graduated from Clemson University in 1994 with a B.S. degree in accounting and finance. Haley has been known by her middle name, Nikki, a Punjabi name meaning "little one", since she was born.
After graduating from college, Haley worked for FCR Corporation, a waste management and recycling company, before joining her family's clothing business as its bookkeeper and chief financial officer. After she married Michael Haley in 1996, she became active in civic affairs. In 1998, she was named to the board of directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce. She was named to the board of directors of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce in 2003. Haley became treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners in 2003, and president in 2004.
Haley chaired the Lexington Gala to raise funds for a local hospital. She also served on the Lexington Medical Foundation, Lexington County Sheriff's Foundation, and West Metro Republican Women. She was the president of the South Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, and was chair for the 2006 Friends of Scouting Leadership Division campaign.
South Carolina House of Representatives (2005–2011)
In 2004, Haley ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 87 in Lexington County. She ran in the Republican primary on a platform of education reform and property tax relief. Initially, she ran because she believed that incumbent Republican state representative Larry Koon, who was the longest-serving legislator in the South Carolina Statehouse at the time, was not going to seek reelection, but Koon entered the race just before the filing deadline.
In the primary election, Koon received 42 percent of the vote, Haley received 40 percent, and David Perry received 17 percent. As no candidate received a majority of the vote (50 percent or higher), Haley and Koon advanced to a runoff election on June 22. In the runoff, she defeated Koon 55 percent to 45 percent. After his loss, Koon accused Haley of running a smear campaign, which she denied. She ran unopposed in the general election.
Haley became the first Indian-American to hold office in South Carolina. She was unopposed for re-election to a second term in 2006. In 2008, she won re-election with 83 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Edgar Gomez, who garnered only 17 percent.
Legislative tenure and policies
Haley was elected chair of the freshman caucus in 2005 and majority whip in the South Carolina General Assembly. She was the only freshman legislator who had been named to be a whip at the time.
One of Haley's stated goals was to lower taxes. She voted against a proposed cigarette surtax three times. She voted for a bill that raised sales taxes from five cents per dollar to six cents per dollar, exempted sales tax on unprepared food such as canned goods, and exempted property tax on "owner-occupied residential property" except for the taxes due from what is still owed on the property. Haley was named a "Taxpayer Hero" by Governor Mark Sanford in 2005 and a "Friend of the Taxpayer" by the South Carolina Association of Taxpayers in 2009.
Haley implemented a plan in which teachers' salaries would be based on not only seniority and qualifications but also job performance, as determined by evaluations and reports from principals, students, and parents. She supports school choice and charter schools. Haley also supports barring legislators from collecting legislative pensions while in office. She believes such pensions should be based on only the $10,400 legislative salary instead of the salary plus lawmakers' $12,000 annual expense allowance.
Haley has stated that, as a daughter of immigrants, she believes the immigration laws should be enforced. She voted in favor of a law that requires employers to be able to prove that newly hired employees are legal residents of the United States, and also requires all immigrants to carry documentation at all times proving that they are legally in the United States.
Haley describes herself as pro-life and has supported legislation to restrict abortion. She has stated "I'm not pro-life because the Republican Party tells me. I'm pro-life because all of us have had experiences of what it means to have one of these special little ones in our life." In 2009, she co-sponsored a bill that would mandate a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions after an ultrasound, also known as the "reflecting" period. The bill passed both legislative chambers in 2010 and was signed into law by Governor Sanford later that year.