Earlier this year, David Wardlaw was annoyed when former President Trump denounced Nikki Haley, his then-rival, on his Truth Social account, anyone who supported her campaign would be 鈥減ermanently barred from the MAGA camp.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I went ahead and wrote her a check,鈥� Wardlaw told NPR鈥檚 Jeongyoon Han in February. 鈥淭he thing is, he needs our vote and here he is cutting us off.鈥�
Wardlaw had traveled from his home in Georgia to attend a rally in Haley鈥檚 home state of South Carolina along with some family members.
He鈥檚 voted for Trump in the past two general elections. But this year, he says he was beginning to tire of Trump鈥檚 divisive personality and hoped to cast a ballot for Haley in November.
Speaking by phone recently, Wardlaw says he鈥檚 come around to voting for the presumptive Republican nominee once again.
鈥淚鈥檓 gonna vote for Trump even though he barred me. I鈥檓 gonna vote for him,鈥� Wardlaw says now. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how Trump is. He says stuff and it鈥檚 like, 'Dude, put a filter on it!' But we鈥檙e down to who you鈥檙e gonna vote for.鈥�
With the presidential race looking tight, one of the most-watched groups of potential swing voters is former Haley supporters like Wardlaw.
They turned out in large numbers in Republican primaries 鈥� in some cases, even after Haley in early March. Many said they were seeking an alternative to Trump or President Joe Biden. In recent conversations, some say they are still searching, though others are resigned to the Biden-Trump rematch.
For some, a 鈥榟opeless鈥� choice
Faced with the choice of voting for Trump or Biden, Josie Schmidt, a Haley supporter from Richmond, Virginia, says she's 鈥渞ight on the edge of hopeless,鈥� but adds with a laugh, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 a little bit of an exaggeration.鈥�
At a Haley event in Richmond, ahead of Schmidt said she had voted for Biden in 2020, but was reluctant to do so again. Schmidt, who describes herself as an independent, explained she was disappointed with some of Biden鈥檚 decisions, including his student loan forgiveness program, which she sees as unfair and expensive. But she won鈥檛 vote for Trump.
鈥淚鈥檇 probably write in Nikki Haley if she wasn鈥檛 on the ballot. I just, I just can鈥檛,鈥� Schmidt said during an interview in late February.
Lately, she鈥檚 been rethinking her plans to write in Haley.
Schmidt says she was delighted with Trump鈥檚 on felony charges of falsifying business records in New York. It gave her hope, she said, that Trump was 鈥渇inally鈥� being 鈥渉eld accountable.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 leaning towards voting for Biden just out of fear of President Trump winning the election,鈥� Schmidt now says.
She thinks many voters are unhappy with their choices.
鈥淚 also think it鈥檚 much easier for people to vote out of anger than out of dread,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd most people that I talk to are feeling one or the other.鈥�
The missing middle
Just before Super Tuesday, Emily Roberson of Raleigh, North Carolina, said she believed Haley was speaking to the feelings of many Americans.
鈥淚 think she represents best what a lot of us are feeling, kind of left out of both sides of the equation, whether you are more liberal or more conservative,鈥� Roberson told NPR鈥檚 Elena Moore. 鈥淚 just think she speaks to the 鈥榤issing middle.鈥欌��
At the time, Roberson, who describes herself as an independent with conservative leanings, said she was thinking of abstaining from voting for president or writing Haley in if faced with a Biden-Trump matchup.
Speaking by phone in recent days, Roberson said she鈥檚 voted for Trump twice before, but she鈥檚 tired of his personality and what she calls his 鈥渁ntics.鈥� She鈥檚 also unhappy with Biden 鈥� especially on the economy and immigration.
鈥淣either excites me. If I vote for one over the other it鈥檚 not a vote for them, it鈥檚 a vote against the other,鈥� she says now. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 a terrible place to be.鈥�
Roberson says her thinking isn鈥檛 significantly affected by Trump鈥檚 recent convictions; she sees the New York case, which focused on falsification of records related to hush money payments to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election, as a 鈥渄istraction.鈥� But Roberson says she will wait and see what happens with some of the Trump is facing in multiple jurisdictions.
She did say she鈥檇 be open to voting for Trump again if he were to choose Haley as his running mate.
鈥楢nger or dread鈥�
In a new poll, former Haley supporters were more likely to say they鈥檇 support Biden in the general election 鈥� by a 9-point margin.
The Biden campaign is for those voters, and others who backed alternatives to Trump in Republican primaries, says Austin Weatherford, the Biden campaign鈥檚 new national Republican engagement director.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 get their candidate and they鈥檙e still upset,鈥� he explained.
Weatherford is a former top staffer to Trump critic and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who is well known for his criticism of Trump.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e gonna do the work and convince them to come support the president,鈥� Weatherford explained.
So far, campaign officials say they鈥檝e met with Haley supporters and invested in a seven-figure ad buy focused on those voters.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, is hoping those voters will take their cues from Haley, says spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
鈥淣ikki Haley herself said that she will be voting for President Trump in November, and President Trump has said he is grateful for that comment and welcomes her support,鈥� Leavitt said.
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