Some of Va.'s Republican voters plan to write in a candidate if Haley loses nomination

RICHMOND, Va. - Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley looked at the crowd, packed like tin fish into a meeting room at The Westin on Thursday and considered why she was still in the fight for the Republican Presidential nomination.

The field of remaining Republican candidates had been whittled down to two but Haley was not yet ready to kiss the ring after a series of devastating losses.

“This is not about a future political career. If that were the case, I would have gotten out a long time ago. The reason I’m doing this is for my kids and your kids and grandkids,” Haley told the crowd.

She had just lost in her home state primary to former President Donald Trump by a 10-point margin, and in Michigan by twice that. Those losses didn’t appear to have shaken her resolve to stay in the race until the bitter end, however.

“Our kids deserve to know what normal feels like,” she said.

Haley spoke days before Super Tuesday, when voters in Virginia and fourteen other states, along with the U.S. territory American Samoa, will cast their ballot in the pivotal primary election. There will be 874 delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday, out of 2,429 total delegates available nationwide. A candidate must gain 1,215 delegates in order to win their party's nomination.

Republican voters at the event say they see her as the only viable option to remedy the divisive politics that have shaped the Republican Party in recent years.

Few of Thursday’s rally attendees said they will vote for Trump come November if he’s the Republican nominee, but they’re hoping Haley will pull through with a Super Tuesday Hail Mary. Many attendees said they would write in a candidate or not vote at all if she loses the nomination.

Supporters say Haley or bust

Freda Rosso, 62, of Providence Forge, has voted Republican since she was in college.

“I’m with her ‘til the bitter end,” Rosso said of Haley. And if Haley drops out, she plans to write in a candidate rather than vote for Trump. “I’m praying for a miracle.”

Susan Moore, 66, from central Virginia, has never voted in a federal election for a Democrat. She said she usually ends up voting Republican, but she more closely identifies as a Libertarian.

“I will not vote for Trump, and I will not vote for Biden,” she said. “I just think the country is facing some serious issues and neither one of those clowns are serious people.”

Bethany Kirschner, 38, a life-long Republican from Montpelier, stood in line with her four children as she waited to get into the rally. As she waited, she considered what she planned to do if Haley doesn’t win the Republican nomination.

“I will write in a candidate. I will not vote for Donald Trump, I will not vote for Joe Biden,” she said. “I feel strongly that we need someone to lead the country with character and I cannot bring myself to vote for Donald Trump for that reason.”

Karen Cundiff, 72, from Chester planned to write in Nikki Haley if Trump won the nomination. She isn’t affiliated with a particular party, and in the past has voted for third party candidates as well as Democrats and Republicans.

“I can’t vote for Trump, I’m a Christian. The Bible says, ‘Out of the heart, the mouth speaks’ and everything he says, the name calling, the bullying, he’s fake Christian,” she said. “I know some Christians who are just brainwashed by it, and I feel like it’s not safe for the country.”

Venkat Eleswarapu, 61, from Virginia Beach, said he also plans to write in Nikki Haley should Trump win the nomination.

“I’m a Ronald Reagan Republican,” he said. “Trump is not a conservative, he’s a populist.”

Edythe West, 45, a life-long Republican voter from Richmond, said she is devastated by the divisiveness that has taken hold of the party.

“Trump will not have my vote,” she said. “I’m hoping that [Haley] is going to pull through.”

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Republican voters hoping for a Nikki Haley Hail Mary