Why Nikki Haley may become the GOP’s 'last non-Trump candidate standing': conservative

In poll after poll, Donald Trump remains the clear frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Polls released in early November show Trump leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the second-place candidate, by 49 percent (Quinnipiac) or 50 percent (The Messenger/HarrisX)

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is in third place in most polls, but some of them show her within striking distance of DeSantis for the second-place position. And polls of a hypothetical President Joe Biden/Haley matchup indicate that if she somehow managed to get the GOP nomination, Haley would be the candidate Biden should fear the most.

In an op-ed published by Politico on November 2, conservative Rich Lowry (best known for his work at the National Review) lays out some reasons why Haley could become the 2024 GOP presidential primary's "last non-Trump candidate standing."

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"Nikki Haley isn't exactly sweeping all before her," Lowry explains, "but she's had a sustained rise that marks one of the major events in a presidential primary race with few new dynamics. She's tied with Ron DeSantis for second in Iowa, and is in second place in New Hampshire and South Carolina. She's still not remotely close to Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican contest, but to have caught or overtaken DeSantis — given the buzz that the Florida governor had earlier in the year — is an accomplishment in itself."

Lowry isn't predicting that Haley rather than Trump will be the nominee, but he argues that Haley "has been helped immeasurably by the debates" and has "tapped into the tough and unapologetic Thatcherite model of what a female politician should be that's still so resonant for Republicans."

DeSantis, Lowry adds, has "been so focused on winning over MAGA that he's communicated very little interest in having the support of non-Trump voters."

"This has created the opening for Haley," Lowry argues. "She has been gaining exclusively among voters who are unfavorable to Trump. The problem for her is that this is only 20 percent or so of the party."

READ MORE: Nikki Haley-Ron DeSantis feud escalates as she catches up to him in polls

Rich Lowry's full Politico op-ed is available at this link.