State GOP surveys the 2024 roster
Connecticut Republicans taking a closer look at former South Carolina Gov. Haley
HARTFORD — With former Ambassador Nikki Haley coming to Connecticut amid political concerns about Donald Trump, Connecticut Republicans are trying to choose a candidate in the fluid presidential field for 2024.
With the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary still about one year away, Haley has entered a growing field of both announced and unannounced aspirants who have been jockeying for position for a potential battle against President Joe Biden. Besides Haley and Trump, other major potential candidates include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, among others.
Mary Ann Turner, the Connecticut party’s vice chairwoman, remains a steadfast supporter of Trump, but adds that many Republicans are now taking a closer look at Haley.
“I think she’s in a bag of jelly beans, and people haven’t picked out their favorite color yet,’’ Turner told the Courant. “People are excited that Haley is coming. I hope we get more of the presidential candidates to come through Connecticut . ... I just think Nikki Haley is an interesting candidate. I read her book after she was the ambassador to the U.N. I was really impressed with that, especially when she stood up to the U.N. Thank God somebody did.’’
Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served at the United Nations during the Trump administration, will be the keynote speaker on May 31 at the 44th annual Prescott Bush Awards Dinner — the party’s biggest annual fundraiser.
State party chairman Ben Proto said that Haley is generally seen as a moderate when compared to other national Republicans.
“I think she’s a good fit for Connecticut,’’ Proto said. “She’s a strong woman who has held very
important positions — a governor, ambassador. She’s competent on the world stage. She’s competent at the state level. She’s competent at the national level. Her positions are more closely aligned where Connecticut is than some other folks.’’
Trump
Despite widespread controversy among the general public and outright antagonism among liberals, Trump remains a popular and charismatic figure among some Republicans. His endorsement of Greenwich fundraiser Leora Levy almost singlehandedly boosted Levy from a low-name-recognition insider to an upset victory over well-known former legislator Themis Klarides in last year’s U.S. Senate primary.
With Trump’s appeal for some Republicans, Proto says he would not underestimate the candidate in 2024.
“Look, he’s a former president of the United States. That makes him formidable,’’ Proto said. “He is a larger-than-life personality. That makes him formidable. I would never count out Donald Trump, but I think there are some other folks who are going to be out there as well . ... There are other folks in Connecticut who are saying maybe it’s time to move forward with the next generation of leadership.’’
Turner agreed that despite multiple criminal investigations and widespread criticism for failing to take immediate action to stop the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Trump still retains support among his passionate base.
“I think Trump will have support in Connecticut no matter what,’’ Turner said. “If you could take away the crusty part of Trump, everything about him is exactly what a voter wants. They want someone who is going to stand up for the United States first and only. Trump plays into a persona. People liked that he would go after a politico. We all chuckled about it, the Trump people.’’
Longtime political science professor Gary Rose, who teaches at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, said the state party is sharply splintered between staunchly conservative Trump supporters and traditionally moderate New England Republicans who are fiscally conservative and socially moderate in the mold of former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and former U.S. Sen. Lowell P. Weicker.
Rose predicted that the Republican primaries could have different outcomes, depending on the number of candidates remaining in the race.
“If it is just DeSantis against Trump, I think DeSantis would carry Connecticut,’’ Rose told The Courant. “But if we get Nikki Haley in there or Tim Scott and [former Maryland governor] Larry Hogan and others, then you have a very splintered primary and that’s exactly what Donald Trump wants. His base is 30 or 35%, and when he ran in 2016, it was often what he got. But with winner-takeall, he got all the delegates . ... If all the lower-tier candidates stay in, then I think that’s going to favor Donald Trump. That’s just what he wants — a very crowded field as it was in 2016.’’
Don Lemon and past prime
Haley was thrust into the national news recently when CNN host Don Lemon declared on live television that Haley was past her prime at the age of 51 because “a woman is considered to be in her prime — in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s.” The controversial comment drew outrage from Lemon’s female co-hosts, along with others around the nation.
For Haley, it generated massive national publicity that boosted her name recognition at the same time that she was announcing her candidacy for president. The comment might have been overlooked in the news if made by a small-town anchor at a local station, but it went viral when made by one of the best-known anchors nationally.
“I thought it was a gift from God,’’ said John Pavia, the former finance chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party. “The Don Lemon thing is one of those things in politics that you can’t predict. In every poll I’ve looked at ever since, it’s Trump-DeSantis-Haley-Pence. She’s right up there . ... It probably exponentially blew up the amount of coverage that her announcement got by five-fold, 10-fold.’’
Capitalizing on the publicity, Haley’s campaign is now selling merchandise that asks “Past my prime?”
Pavia, who ran briefly for state party chairman in 2015, has emerged as the state’s most prominent supporter of Haley. He traveled to South Carolina for her announcement and attended a small dinner the night before with Haley and her husband, Michael. He was on board early and has held three fundraisers for a political action committee operated by Haley.
Pavia largely sat out the 2016 and 2020 elections and says that he is more excited about Haley’s candidacy than any other politician in the past eight to 10 years. But he declined to blast Trump.
“I’m a big supporter of his economic policies, but I wish he had exercised better political judgment, and he would have won in 2020 going away,’’ Pavia said.
Even those who have not publicly endorsed Haley say that she benefitted from the controversy.
“I don’t think anyone takes Don Lemon seriously, including people at CNN,’’ Proto said. “He’s a relative laughingstock for the most part, and I think he proved it time and again. When the women on set on CNN stand up and walk out on you, I think that says everything you need to know about Don Lemon.’’
Turner, the vice chairwoman from Enfield, said, “When I was 51, I was right in the middle of all kinds of amazing stuff. You’re in the best part of your job. You’re making good money. Your kids are older . ... Lemon had to eat those words.’’
On the issues, Haley, as governor, sought the removal of the Confederate flag at the state Capitol and signed a bill in 2015 that ordered its removal. She supports restricting abortion rights and characterizes herself as pro-life. She is a tax-cutter who voted against a surtax on cigarettes when serving as a legislator.
Yale Law School graduate
A longshot in the race is conservative author Vivek Ramaswamy, who graduated from Yale Law School in 2013 and is among the youngest players in the race at age 37.
Ramaswamy is best known for writing “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,’’ which has been a hit with conservatives since 2021 as the book blasts identity politics and political correctness. The book states that capitalism “robs us of our money, our voice and our identity.’’
While relatively little known on the national stage, Ramaswamy has already traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire to generate publicity for his candidacy. He has appeared on the Fox News Channel and officially announced his candidacy during a live interview on the Tucker Carlson show — a program favored by conservatives.
A millionaire business executive, he created a biotechnology company known as Roivant Sciences and ran the company as chief executive officer before stepping down two years ago.
A high school valedictorian in Ohio, he is married to Dr. Apoorva T. Ramaswamy, an ear, nose and throat specialist who graduated from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven.
“He’s against woke agendas, which works well in the Republican Party,’’ Rose said in an interview. “I don’t see him making much progress. He’s been on Fox News, which is important for that party. He’s really just one of these interesting individuals, but I don’t foresee him as a serious candidate.’’
DeSantis
Among voters who have grown tired of Trump, DeSantis is seen as a candidate who has many of the same political views but none of the baggage that Trump accumulated during four years as president.
One of DeSantis’ most attention-getting moves was sending illegal immigrants to a wealthy, liberal summer enclave off the coast of Massachusetts. Democrats blasted the idea widely as a publicity stunt, but conservative Republicans had a strongly different view.
“I don’t think there’s a single person who didn’t think that him shipping illegals to Martha’s Vineyard wasn’t a stroke of genius,’’ Turner said. “I don’t think it’s just Republicans. I live with a Democrat husband here. Let me tell you. He thought it was something. It’s the kind of one-upsmanship sometimes that you look at these candidates, and DeSantis seems to have that form about him.’’