Football Coach, Senators Fundraise for Trump, CEOs for Haley

(Bloomberg) -- Nikki Haley and Donald Trump as scheduled to hold dueling fundraisers in Greenville, South Carolina days before that state’s primary, which will likely determine if Haley has the voter support to stay in the race.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Musk Says First Neuralink Patient Received Implant in Brain

• Traders Line Up for ‘Once-in-a-Generation’ Emerging Markets Bet

• UPS to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Bring Workers in Five Days a Week

• Blackstone Is Building a $25 Billion Empire of Power-Hungry Data Centers

• Stocks Flounder With Tech Earnings Test in Sight: Markets Wrap

The host lists for the two events are emblematic of the two candidate’s bases of support. Among the hosts for the Trump Feb. 20 fundraiser are the top Republicans in South Carolina: Governor Henry McMaster, Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, according to an invitation obtained by Bloomberg News. Also named is former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz and hedge fund Key Square Group LP founder Scott Bessent

Haley’s host list for a Feb. 19 event pulls largely from the business community in the state where she served two terms as governor: Alice Company chief executive officer Smyth McKissick; FGP International Inc.’s Tee Hooper; George Dean Johnson, founder and chairman of Johnson Development Associates Inc.; and investment adviser Glenn Hilliard, according to an invitation.

Puck News reported earlier on the fundraisers.

The two remaining candidates in the Republican presidential contest will face off in the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24. Trump, who easily won both Iowa and New Hampshire, is leading Haley by more than 30 percentage points in the state, according to polls. Still, she has vowed to remain a candidate at least through March 5 when more than a dozen states will vote in the Super Tuesday contests.

Haley, who has a large base of donor support, including the Koch-backed American’s For Prosperity network, has the money to keep running. She has raised $5.5 million since Ron DeSantis announced he was dropping out of the race just over a week ago, according to her campaign. She plans several more fundraisers in South Carolina as the primary approaches, a person familiar with the matter said.

She is also scheduled to attend other fundraising events in New York City and Miami this week. Last week, Trump posted on social media a threat to anyone who donates to Haley saying he would “permanently” bar them from his Make America Great Again camp, though he didn’t specify what that meant.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• There’s So Much Data Even Spies Are Struggling to Find Secrets

• Basketball, Basketball, Basketball: Inside Steve Ballmer’s New $2 Billion Arena

• How to Handle the Dreaded Political Shop Talk at Work

• How a Lucky Break Fueled Eli Lilly’s $600 Billion Weight-Loss Empire

• AI Needs So Much Power That Old Coal Plants Are Sticking Around

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.