Nikki Haley's super PAC spent big to fuel her rise. It started 2024 with little left.
The super PAC backing former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley entered the election year in January with just $3.5 million in cash.
The super PAC backing former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley entered the election year in January with just $3.5 million in cash, according to new Federal Election Commission records, while Haley's campaign itself started the year on stronger footing.
The new report Wednesday from SFA Fund Inc. covers the period from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2023. It reveals the committee raised just over $50 million but spent nearly $63 million to back Haley. The super PAC entered the reporting period in July with around $17 million but finished with a paltry $3.5 million war chest after it spent heavily on ads.
Some of Haley’s wealthiest donors are considering whether to continue helping, especially after she suffered bruising defeats to the GOP front-runner, former President Donald Trump, in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
Haley’s campaign itself showed some significant improvement in fundraising as she sought to capitalize on her rising poll numbers toward the end of 2023. She raised $17.3 million into her campaign committee over the final three months of the year, after raising $8.2 million quarter before that.
Although Haley stepped up her fundraising in the fourth quarter, she will likely have to expand her donor base to continue funding her primary campaign. A sizable chunk of her fourth-quarter haul, 38%, came from donors who cannot contribute more money for the primary, since they already reached the maximum $3,300 contribution limit.
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