Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley is returning a favor to Sarah Palin, endorsing the former Alaska governor in her newly announced bid to represent Alaska in Congress.
"Excited to see SarahPalinUSA get back into the fight to take our country back. We need her voice in Congress!" Haley tweeted on the morning of April 3.
Palin last week joined a huge field of Alaska hopefuls when she announced she would seek the seat held for decades by the late-U.S. Rep. Don Young who died last month.
At least 50 candidates are in the running.
Palin, Alaska's governor from 2006-09, is widely credited with giving Haley a huge bump in 2010 when Haley was running for governor in South Carolina amid a field of three male opponents in the Republican primary.
In May that year, just weeks before the June turnout, Palin threw her support to Haley in front of about 1,000 people gathered at the Statehouse steps by saying Haley shared many of her concerns to clean up “good ol’ boy” government.
“The establishment said I couldn’t do it, and I didn’t get a lot of help from the establishment,” Palin said, before addressing Haley: “I know your story. I know what you’re going through.”
She continued, “But she is a fighter and she’s a winner. And some of the good ol’ boys, maybe they don’t like her too much. But it’s because she stands up for what is right. She has a stiff spine, and she’s doing it for you, South Carolina.”
The endorsement came as Haley's momentum was about to pick up against the competition: then-Attorney General Henry McMaster, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.
She would go on to win the primary by beating Barrett in a runoff with 65 percent of the vote. In November, she became the state's first female and minority governor after defeating Democrat Vincent Sheheen.
Palin at the time was riding a crest of post-election popularity in the GOP after rising from near obscurity to the national stage as the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee paired with Arizona Sen. John McCain.
They would lose to the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
In the Alaska contest, Palin has the biggest national political profile in the packed field that includes current and former state legislators and a North Pole city council member named Santa Claus.
Young, a Republican, had held Alaska’s House seat since 1973 and was seeking reelection at the time of his death last month at age 88.
A special primary is set for June 11. The top four vote-getters will advance to an Aug. 16 special election in which ranked choice voting will be used, a process in line with a new elections system approved by voters in 2020.
The winner, targeted to be certified by Sept. 2, will serve the remainder of Young’s term, which expires in January.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
