In 2010, South Carolina will elect a new Governor to replace the term-limited Mark Sanford. Today there is a new entrant into the race: America’s first Indian-American Republican legislator. Nikki Haley – first elected to the South Carolina statehouse in 2004 – is a 37-year old accountant, and a conservative mother of two. She enters the race with the blessing – though not the formal endorsement – of the popular Governor:
Some question whether South Carolina is ready for a South Asian female governor. But then again, many thought Bobby Jindal couldn’t win in Louisiana, and that Sarah Palin could not win in Alaska. Perhaps there’s more appetite for smart, young, energetic conservative reformers than some believe. That said, Haley has a tough road ahead. She has raised less money than some of the other candidates, and she is much less know than the other Republican candidates — two of whom have been elected statewide.
