US-HALEY 2 LST

It's been a long haul for Haley called "Nikki Who?" to
"Charismatic" Republican leader.
"The past few days on the campaign trail, South Carolina
gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley liked to joke that she
went from "Nikki Who?" to a near-permanent spot on the front
pages of the Palmetto State's newspapers," The Washington Post
said after the results were declared.
"If the 38-year-old state representative becomes the
Republican nominee in a June 22 runoff, she would also
instantly become one of the national party's most promising
rising stars.
"She's smart and serious about policy, a charismatic
campaigner who dresses stylishly and can deliver
barbed attacks with a smile," the daily said.
"Although Haley was raised a Sikh, she married a
Methodist and is raising her two children, Rena and Nalin, as
Methodists. She became the first descendant of the Sikh
religion elected to any state legislature in the United
States," The Post said.
"We were settling (in South Carolina) for a Republican
House, a Republican Senate, a Republican governor. I won't
stop until we get a conservative House, a conservative Senate,
a conservative governor," Nikki Haley said in her speech
victory speech.
"With little money, many political observers had written
Haley's candidacy off. Others speculated her ties to Sanford,
caught in a sex scandal, would doom her campaign. But twin
endorsements from Palin and Jenny Sanford catapulted Haley
from back-of-the-pack status to front-runner," reported The
State, South Carolina's news paper.
"Nikki Haley is poised to become the next Governor of the
great state of South Carolina, and we are going to be there
every step of the way with her," said Dino Teppara, chairman
of the Indian American Conservative Council.
"We are on the brink of history. Nikki is set to do
something the political class doubted she could do. When Bobby
Jindal first ran for Governor of Louisiana in 2003, few people
believed he could win. But many of our members supported him
from the start," Teppara said. PTI