Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s campaign announced plans for $10 million in TV, radio and digital advertising across Iowa and New Hampshire as she looks to build on momentum after the third GOP debate last week.
The Haley campaign will book the ads beginning in the first week of December, according to a release, as the party heads toward the start of voting in January.
Haley’s standout performance at the third debate in Miami comes as she looks to secure second place in the primary race over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who had long been considered the closest competitor to the party’s front-runner, former President Trump.
“Nikki Haley’s momentum and path to victory are clear. The same can’t be said for Ron DeSantis,” said Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney. “Nikki’s campaign is built to win the primary against Donald Trump and all polls show she is by far the strongest Republican against Joe Biden in the general.”
The campaign’s release said that “while Ron DeSantis is desperately staking his entire campaign on Iowa, Nikki Haley will at least double DeSantis’ cash-strapped advertising in Iowa alone” and accused the Florida governor of having “abandoned” New Hampshire advertising.
The DeSantis campaign said it was confident it would defeat Haley in Iowa, and argued money spent on her candidacy would only help Trump.
“It’s clear there is no way Nikki Haley can beat Donald Trump, and every dollar spent on her candidacy is an in-kind to the Trump Campaign. Ron DeSantis has the best combination of endorsements, ground game, and message in the early states, which is why the former president continues to attack only him,” said Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign, in a statement.
“We are confident the Iowa voters will see who will best represent them and their values.“
Haley has seen boosts from previous debate performances as she looked to catch up to and overtake DeSantis. A 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that most likely Republican primary and caucus voters who tuned into the third debate last week said Haley performed the best of the five candidates on stage. DeSantis came in second.
The former South Carolina governor has appeared to close in on DeSantis in some polling. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found Haley beating Biden in six battleground states in a hypothetical match-up.
Her campaign ended the third fundraising quarter with $9.1 million in funds available for use in the GOP primary, compared to DeSantis’s reported $5 million.
Both competitors announced raising more than $1 million in the 24 hours after the third GOP debate.
This story was updated at 11:16 a.m.