Called a ‘whore’ by Sheheen, Haley storming to big victory.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has beat her Democrat Governor Vincent Sheheen easily, to become the first state governor to romp home easily in the 2014 polls.
CNN declared Haley, the second Indian American governor in the US, after Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, as the winner.
The Associated Press reported Haley was declared the winner based on projections from exit poll data that suggests the Republican will win by a wider margin than 2010, when just 4.5 percentage points separated her from Sheheen.
Haley faced racist and sexist remarks before in her political career, and come up trumps, but it was a humbling moment for politics itself, when she was termed a ‘whore’ by her Democrat opponent Vincent Sheheen during a public campaign. It sealed the fate of Sheheen who came in for widespread condemnation.
Sheheen can be heard saying, “we are going to escort whore out the door,” about a minute into his remarks and then corrected himself by adding, “we’re going to escort her out the door.” The chuckling came when the crowd responded to his remarks with applause, reported USA Today.
While Sheheen dug his political grave with that remark – apart from the fact that he was anyway behind by more than 15 points going into the race, Haley has been getting tremendous support from top leaders in the GOP ranks, and some of the support suggest that she is likely going to be a top contender for the Vice Presidential ticket in 2016.
The former Massachusetts governor and likely top GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney’s wife Ann Romney blasted Sheheen’s original comment and called it “unacceptable” in an interview with CNN.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, denounced what he called a “personal attack” on Haley, his friend, in a Facebook post.
The local affiliate of Fox News reported that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joined Haley for two campaign stops in Spartanburg on Sunday.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal campaigned with Haley on Thursday for stops along the coast.