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FIRST ON FOX –Nikki Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President Donald Trump, will return to the key general election battleground state of New Hampshire early next month to campaign with a former official in Trump’s State Department who’s running for Congress.
And the trip by Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor who’s considered a potential 2024 GOP presidential hopeful, to the state that for a century’s held the first primary in the race for the White House, will spark more speculation about her possible national ambitions.
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Haley will spend April 4 in New Hampshire, teaming up with Republican congressional candidate Matt Mowers at multiple stops including a fundraiser in the southern town of Salem. Word of Haley’s trip was shared first nationally with Fox News on Thursday.
Mowers is one of the top contenders in the GOP primary in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, a longtime premiere House swing district that the GOP’s aiming to flip from blue to red in November’s midterm elections.
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley campaigns with GOP congressional candidate Matt Mowers in Bedford, New Hampshire, in October of 2020.
The stop in New Hampshire will be Haley’s first since October 2020, when she campaigned with Mowers during his first bid for the seat. Mowers won the GOP nomination but lost the general election to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas by five points. The two-term Democratic incumbent is running for reelection again this year.
Mowers, who served as New Hampshire GOP executive director in 2014 and later state director for then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s 2016 presidential bid before working on Trump’s presidential campaign, in August launched his second straight bid for Congress. Mowers is the fundraising front-runner in the Republican race. He hauled in nearly $850,000 in the first four months of his campaign and over $575,000 cash-on-hand as of the beginning of the year.
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“Matt is the conservative fighter New Hampshire needs in DC. He’s ready to secure our southern border, defend our Second Amendment rights, put an end to the Democrats’ liberal spending spree, and hold the Biden administration accountable for their reckless foreign policy,” Haley said in a statement. “I’m proud to support Matt and look forward to returning to the Granite State next month.”
Mowers told Fox News that “at the UN, Ambassador Haley took on cowards and bullies like Russia and Iran to defend our country and our allies. She understands the need for a strong foreign policy that puts America first, as opposed to the weak-kneed decisions made by the Biden administration. I’m proud to have Ambassador Haley’s support and look forward to welcoming her back to the Granite State.”
Earlier Tuesday, Mowers landed the endorsements of two police unions in Manchester, the state’s largest city.
The field of GOP candidates also includes Karoline Leavitt, who served in the Trump White House, and Gail Huff Brown, a longtime TV news reporter who is the wife of former Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during the Trump administration. Brown recently visited the U.S.-Mexico border. State Rep. Tim Baxter, Marine Corps veteran Julian Acciard, and sales associate Gilead Towne are also running in the Republican primary.
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Haley has been crisscrossing the country this cycle, campaigning and helping to fundraise for fellow Republicans running in the midterm elections, when the GOP aims to win back majorities in the House and Senate. Her travels over the past year have taken her to Iowa, the state whose caucuses for half a century have led off the race for the White House, and Nevada, which holds the fourth contest in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.
Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, June 24, 2021. Photographer: Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Trump has repeatedly flirted with making another presidential bid in 2024. Asked if she’d run if the former president also campaigns again for the White House, Haley told the Wall Street Journal last autumn that “in the beginning of 2023, should I decide that there’s a place for me, should I decide that there’s a reason to move, I would pick up the phone and meet with the president.”
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“I would talk to him and see what his plans are. I would tell him about my plans. We would work on it together,” she added.
