CNN poll says Haley can beat Biden. Now, former SC Gov. must convince Upstate primary voters.

On a warm Thursday afternoon, just off I-85 in Boiling Springs, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was euphoric when she arrived at Plankowner Brewery amid steins of beers.

A new CNN poll released Thursday cast the former South Carolina Governor as the best Republican candidate in the General Election to beat President Joe Biden in a 49%-43% match up.

Another local South Carolina ranked-choice poll declared Haley a winner in the GOP presidential field.

Meanwhile, a recent Politico report showed popular GOP donors, like former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, who donated to S.C. Superintendent Ellen Weaver's campaign last year, have started seeing Haley as a viable candidate.

"I have been underestimated in everything I've ever done," Haley said Thursday, echoing her previous campaign speeches. "And it's a blessing. Because it makes me scrappy, and it makes me work hard. No one's gonna outwork me in this race. No one's gonna outsmart me in this race."

The first to jump into the race after former President Donald Trump, Haley has campaigned for competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 and has platformed familiar GOP solutions to immigration and border security. And while many voters may remain undecided, Haley's continued climb has started ticking the odds in her favor.

Jason Thornton, 46, a teacher from Spartanburg County, is an undecided voter. Thornton arrived early and sat in the back in anticipation of what Haley had to say. He said he could see Haley in the White House as either the president or vice president based on her past stint in the Governor's mansion.

"She pushed a lot more money for education and opened up money for charter schools for alternative education," Thornton said. "She's always pushed for education, and she's also pushing for jobs because right now the (Upstate) region is open for business and it really started with Nikki Haley."

Since her jump into the 2024 race, Haley has steadily tried to build the image of a maternal consensus builder on pocketbook issues and polarizing debates such as abortion access.

When a 7-year-old attendee, Kai Mulchan, asked Haley why she wanted to be the president, Haley said she wanted to be the president because "you deserve better than what you're getting."

"Y'all have watched me become a mom in South Carolina. Just wait until you see me become the mom of America," she continued.

On the campaign trail, Haley has repeatedly told potential voters that she's an accountant armed with a fix-it attitude on a path to repair the cracks in the system left behind by both Democrats and Republicans. Her first debate stage performance helped her chalk up support and move past former Vice President Mike Pence to fourth place in national polls.

But the new CNN poll inspired confidence in her campaign, where one campaign member said "It's happening," on X, a social media platform.

The poll also spelled bad news for Biden, whose age became a major Achilles heel for his re-election campaign. Mary Ann Riley, a longtime Republican fixture in Spartanburg, said Haley's campaign focus on retiring aged politicians in Washington D.C. may resonate with voters.

For Kai's parents, Neil Mulchan and Felizia Mulchan, the CNN poll came as a surprise.

Neil Mulchan, 51, who moved from Florida two years ago, has voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past. But if there was a Haley-Biden match up, "I would vote for Haley," Mulchan said.

Mulchan's wife Felizia, 43, identified as a Democrat and said Biden's age was not helping him in the race.

"I'm not thrilled about the poll on the Democratic side," she said. "My vote will be for the Democrats, but I won't be as excited about it."

Ahead of Haley's visit, the Democrats focused on Haley's recent New Hampshire sojourn where she was part of a Moms for Liberty forum.

SCDP Spokesperson Alyssa Bradley said despite Haley's claims of fixing learning levels in the state, Haley's leadership had only underfunded public schools. Bradley claims the former governor turned her back on rural and poor school districts.

"Now, Haley wants to bring her MAGA, anti-public school agenda nationwide,” Bradley said. “As she travels the state this week, Nikki Haley needs to answer for the years she spent undermining the public education system that millions of South Carolina kids rely on every day.”

Haley at the center of dueling influences in the Upstate

For months, political watchers and undecided voters have maintained the Republican pick will come down to electability. Some have demurred from giving former President Donald Trump the seal of approval.

A new ad by a super PAC affiliated with Haley's campaign has begun portraying the former U.N. Ambassador as the "conservative candidate most feared by Washington".

Be that as may, loyalties are hard to shake. Haley's biggest fight, for now, isn't overcoming Biden. Rather it's convincing GOP primary voters that she is the one to back.

Back in the Aug. 23 RNC debate, Haley mounted an incisive offensive against the Trump administration by saying "Our kids are never going to forgive us" for adding $8 trillion worth of fresh debt during the Trump administration. Riley said Haley's comments are affecting her popularity.

"We are a very conservative state, and so for Nikki to be saying some of the things that she's saying against Trump, who really helped her along— I'm really having a hard time," she said.

Still, Haley's allies remain confident. Congressman Ralph Norman, who represents parts of Spartanburg and York County in the 5th Congressional District, is part of Haley's South Carolina tea. He is using his Upstate network to shift the narrative.

Several supporters in the crowd arrived at the brewery upon Norman's call to action.

"I know Spartanburg very well," Riley said. "This is Ralph Norman's place and he's the Congressman from this area. So when he sends out an email, they're gonna come for him."

Devyani Chhetri covers SC politics for the Greenville News. You can reach her at @ChhetriDevyani on X or dchhetri@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Nikki Haley turns her attention to SC voters after surge in CNN poll