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.

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."

During her campaigning from 2010 onward, Haley has accepted funds from 37 ALEC Corporations, with funding amounting to at least $170,000. These corporations include but aren't limited to: Although, Coca-Cola, General Motors, General Electric, Kraft Foods, Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo, Intuit, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance are not current ALEC Corporations, all eight of these corporations made donations to Haley while they were members of ALEC in 2010.
 * AT&T
 * Bank of America
 * Boeing Co.
 * Comcast
 * Geo Group
 * Hewlett Packard
 * Philip Morris
 * Liberty Mutual Insurance
 * Anheuser-Busch
 * BP
 * GEICO

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.

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.

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.”

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" by GOP legislators during the 2012 election, Haley says the idea is simply a "distraction" used by the Barack Obama campaign to avoid discussing his first term record.


 * "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."

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.”

She also has an "A" rating by the National Rifle Association.

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.

Due to her opposition and the state's House rejection of expansion, South Carolina will not participate in the federal expansion of Medicaid. Instead, the House voted to allocate $88.5 to hospitals and medical providers for support when uninsured residents come under their care. Many supporters of the expansion, including South Carolina Hospital Association, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, and the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, said it would add 40,000 jobs to the state, and the money will go to other states if South Carolina didn't take it.

Outside Constitutional Authority
In early June 2011, Haley issued an executive order requiring the state legislature to reconvene, however she was challenged by a 13-page lawsuit from the former Senate leader and current lieutenant governor, Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston). The lawsuit claimed her order was outside her power as an executive, and breached the separation of branches. Despite McConnell's claim about its unconstitutionality, Haley claimed she held that right because "exercising this constitutional power rests in the Governor's sound discretion." The court ruled in a 3-2 vote in favor of McConnell.

Ethical Charges
After her time as a state representative, claims against Haley surfaced that she had illegally lobbied, in addition to breaking other ethics laws, during her term. Lexington Medical Center and Wilbur Smith Associates were the alleged recipients of her lobbying efforts. During this time, Lexington Medical Center was trying to gain state approval for an open-heart surgery center. Haley was also accused of accepting funds and gifts from lobbyists and corporations for the hospital. The six-member House Ethics Committee began meeting behind closed doors for over a month. Committee members did say the South Carolina law regarding lobbying and ethics were vague, and open to interpretation. Haley's attorney, Swati Patel, added similar investigations might ensue if action was taken against Haley. Senate Democratic Caucus director, Phil Bailey, pointed to an August 2008 email to Lexington Medical chief executive Mike Biediger:


 * “We have some work to do not only to switch votes (on the heart center) but to hold the ones we have. We are as close as we are going to get and can’t afford to leave one stone unturned. … Fingers crossed!”

The committee ultimately voted 5-1 in favor of not investigating Haley further.

Hate-Group Affiliated Staffer
In May 2013, the Southern Poverty Law Center accused a Haley grassroots steering committee member of belonging to the Council of Conservative Citizens, designated by SPLC as a "white nationalist hate group." Committee member Roan Garcia-Quintana was asked to step down by Haley's administration a week after calls for her resignation were made, through a statement:


 * "While we appreciate the support Roan has provided, we were previously unaware of some of the statements he had made, statements which do not well represent the views of the Governor. There is no place for racially divisive rhetoric in the politics or governance of South Carolina, and Governor Haley has no tolerance for it."

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 degree in 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