Haley Campaign Press Release - Haley Releases New 'Strong Girls' Ad after Becoming First Woman to Win a GOP Primary

By: Brittany Bernstein
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Nikki Haley is releasing a new digital ad on Monday highlighting "strong girls," one day after she became the first woman to win a Republican presidential primary.

"I was elected the first female minority governor in history," Haley says in the new ad previewed exclusively by National Review. "Women, when they do something, they have thought about it, they know exactly what they're doing, how they're going to do it, and they get it done."

"Strong girls make strong women. Strong women become strong leaders," the former South Carolina governor says as clips of her on the campaign trail meeting with young girls roll. "When given an opportunity, women work hard and prove they deserve to be in the room every time."

Then a male voice explains Haley is "trying to become the first woman of color nominated for president by a major party."

"The only way we're going to win the majority of Americans is if we move forward with a new generational conservative leader that leaves the negativity and grievances of the past and moves forward," Haley says.

Haley's campaign has frequently shared moments between Haley and young girls at her campaign events who have at times given her homemade friendship bracelets that say things like "President Nikki" and "warrior."

"This is what it's all about: the next generation. Nikki is in this fight to make sure the American Dream exists for every young girl, but she's also in this fight to prove that they can be anything they want to be," Haley spokesperson AnnMarie Graham-Barnes told National Review. "Strong girls become strong women, and strong women become strong leaders."

Haley notched her first primary win in Washington, D.C., on Sunday after having survived eight consecutive losses to the former president in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, the Virgin Islands, Michigan, Missouri, and Idaho — and despite her major outside benefactor, Americans for Prosperity, pulling its financial support.

Nonetheless, Haley's campaign pulled in more than $12 million in February.

Ahead of her 20-point defeat in her home state last month, the Haley campaign sought to temper expectations, saying it had its sights set on a number of upcoming open or semi-open primaries on Super Tuesday. In an open primary, voters do not have to formally register with a political party ahead of Election Day in order to vote in that party's primary. In a semi-open primary, voters who are not affiliated with a political party can choose which party's primary they would like to participate in.

Of the 874 delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, nearly two-thirds are in states with open or semi-open primaries, including Texas, Maine, and Virginia. Haley's campaign is eyeing several states that have a large contingent of college-educated voters, suburban voters, and independents, who tend to support Haley over Trump. Those states include Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.

Still, polls find Trump leading Haley by double digits in many of those states.