Nikki Haley, Thursday, Oct. 12, 6:30 p.m.

Former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley will appear on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 6:30 p.m.

In announcing her candidacy for president Haley, 51, called for “a new generation of leadership to rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose,” drawing a contrast between herself and former President Trump, 77, and President Joe Biden, 80.

Noting that Republicans have “lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections,” Haley declared: “That has to change.”

“Joe Biden’s record is abysmal. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again.”

Haley served as South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, stepping down in 2017 to take the role of ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration. She announced her presidential bid in February, citing her record of economic growth as governor and deep knowledge of world affairs garnered during her time as UN ambassador.

Haley has been surging in the polls both in New Hampshire and Iowa, prompting Trump, the frontrunner to divert his attacks to her from a fading

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will meet with voters on the morning of Friday, Oct. 13, 10 a.m.

Elected governor in 2016 with little political experience, Burgum won his second term in a 40-point landslide in 2020.

On the campaign trail, Burgum talks about his small town roots and values and the challenges his family faced when his father died when Burgum was a freshman in high school. Burgum literally mortgaged the family farm to start a software company he later sold to Microsoft in 2001 for $1.1 billion.

“I believed then and I believe now that unlimited opportunity exists everywhere in America,” Burgum said when announcing his candidacy. “I literally bet the farm to help turn a small startup into a billion dollar company in North Dakota.”

On his campaign website Burgum asks the question: “Why Doug?”

His answer: “Doug Burgum is a governor and a business leader. His top priorities: the economy, energy and national security. Make no mistake, Doug’s a conservative on other important issues too, but he knows if we get the economy, energy and national security right, we will unlock the best of America and improve every American life.”

Mike Pence, Friday, Oct. 13, 3:30 p.m.

On the campaign trail, former vice president Mike Pence has acknowledged he’s “known well but not well known.” He’ll do his best to change that when he meets with voters on Friday, Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m.

Before being elected the 48th vice president of the United States in 2016, Pence was a lawyer, a radio talk show host, a six-term conservative member of the U.S. House. In 2013, he became governor of Indiana.

“As governor, he enacted the largest income tax cut in Indiana history, lowering individual income tax rates, the business personal property tax and the corporate income tax in order to strengthen the State’s competitive edge and attract new investment and goodpaying jobs,” according to Pence’s biography in the National Archives. “Due to his relentless focus on jobs, the state’s unemployment rate fell by half during his four years in office, and at the end of his term, more Hoosiers were working than at any point in the state’s 200-year history.”

On Jan. 6, Pence was thrust into the spotlight when he declined to illegally interfere with Congress’s counting of presidential delegates, drawing the ire of President Trump and his supporters but also praise both from colleagues, scholars and voters he meets on the campaign trail.

“Now the amount of chutzpah it took to do that, to stick to your principles, honor our country and its Constitution and then also go through the grief that he has gone through since then as a result of doing his damn job; I want to personally thank you,” former ambassador Scott Brown told Pence at a recent campaign event in Rye, New Hampshire.

When announcing his run for president, Pence stated: “I know we can bring this country back. We can defend our nation and secure our borders, we can revive our economy and put our nation back on a path to a balanced federal budget. We can defend our liberties and give America a new beginning for life.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, Saturday, Oct. 14, 10 a.m.

Businessman and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, of Ohio, will bring his campaign to Exeter Town Hall on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m.

In his first run for political office, Ramaswamy has gained traction with Republican primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and across the nation. On the campaign trail Ramaswamy points to “10 Truths”: “God is real; there are two genders; human flourishing requires fossil fuels; reverse racism is racism; an open border is no border; parents determine the education of their children; the nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind; capitalism lifts people up from poverty; there are three branches of the U.S. government, not four; the U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history.”

At his events Ramaswamy asks: “Do you want reform or revolution? I stand on the side of revolution. We’re not just running from something. We’re running to something.”

Ramaswamy graduated from Harvard with a degree in biology and he has a law degree from Yale. At 38 years old, Ramaswamy made his fortune starting the biotech company Roivant Sciences, which developed five therapies that gained FDA approval. After leaving Roivant he launched the asset management firm Strive in 2022.

In his books and on the campaign trail Ramaswamy argues that so-called “woke” values are undermining America’s values and economic strength.

“Faith, patriotism, and hard work have disappeared, only to be replaced by new secular religions like COVIDISM, climateism, and gender ideology,” Ramaswamy said when announcing his campaign. “We hunger to be part of something bigger than ourselves, yet we cannot even answer the question of what it means to be an American. Today the woke left preys on that vacuum. They tell you that your race, your gender, and your sexual orientation govern who you are, what you can achieve and what you’re allowed to think.”

Will Hurd, Saturday, Oct. 14, 6:30 p.m.

Once known as “The most interesting man in Congress,” former Texas Congressman Will Hurd will engage with voters at Exeter Town Hall on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 6:30 p.m.

“For the past 20 years I’ve been on the frontlines of the most pressing fights facing our nation,” Hurd said when announcing his campaign. “I hunted down terrorists in the Middle East after 9/11. In Congress I fought to lower taxes, secure our border and provide more opportunities for the middle class. I’ve worked at the highest levels of business to harness technology and innovation for the future of America.”

Hurd was first elected to represent Texas’s 23rd Congressional District in 2014 and re-elected in 2016 and 2018, opting not to seek a fourth term in 2020, announcing he would instead “devote his time to ensuring America is ready for a New Cold War with China.”

Before running for Congress Hurd worked as an undercover CIA operative, starting with the agency in 2000 following his graduation from Texas A&M with a degree in computer science. His first assignment was following up on the attack on the USS Cole by Al-Qaida in Yemen. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hurd spent the next eight years fighting the war on terror in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and New York. In 2010 he launched FusionX, a cybersecurity firm.

Like others in the Republican field, Hurd is critical of President Biden regarding illegal immigration and the flow of deadly fentanyl into the country. He knocks the president regarding inflation, crime and homelessness.

He directs his sharpest criticisms, however at Trump.

“If we nominate a lawless, selfish failed politician like Donald Trump, who lost the House, the Senate and the White House, we all know Joe Biden will win again. Republicans deserve better. America deserves better.”

As a candidate, Hurd offers his vision for a positive future.

“I envision an America where the economy thrives because we harness technologies like artificial intelligence to grow American jobs, not unemployment,” Hurd said in his campaign announcement. “An America where every child, regardless of location or age has access to a safe, world-class education. An America that acknowledges science, addresses mental health and is inclusive and understanding. … As president I’ll put our American security and prosperity first. And I’ll give us the common sense leadership America so desperately needs.”