Nikki Haley tells Super PAC group: Stop using my name to court votes for Harris

Former presidential candidate Nikki Haley has demanded a Super PAC’s project, Haley Voters for Harris, stop using her name.

“Kamala Harris and I are total opposites on every issue. Any attempt to use my name to support her or her agenda is deceptive and wrong,” read a Haley statement shared from her communications director. “I support Donald Trump because he understands we need to make America strong, safe, and prosperous.”

The group, a project under the Super PAC, PivotPAC, started as PrimaryPivot before changing its name to Haley Voters for Biden. It tweeted from the PivotPAC account in March that they were “pivoting again.” PivotPAC is a a “single-candidate super PAC in support of Kamala Harris,” according to the web site Open Secrets, which follows political contributions.

“If you voted for Haley, we will continue working with you to preserve our democracy. We are launching @HaleyVote4Biden at http://haleyvotersforbiden.org. Please like and repost if you voted Haley and do not plan to vote Trump,” the tweet from March 6 read.

The Haley Voters for Harris project director Craig Snyder said the project changed its name over the weekend when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race Sunday afternoon and later endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

The organization tweeted its support soon after Biden made his decision to drop out.

“We support @JoeBiden‘s recommendation and will immediately change the name of our organization to Haley Voters for Harris. There is no time to lose. She was a tough prosecutor. We encourage her to select a moderate VP like @GovernorShapiro, @RoyCooperNC, or @GovAndyBeshear.”

Trying to switch voters in New Hampshire, beyond

Snyder said PivotPAC was active during Haley’s campaign for the Republican nomination and was acting as an expenditure committee, trying to help her specifically in New Hampshire. Snyder came on board more recently, after Haley had dropped out of the race.

The team listed on the Haley Voters for Harris website has eight people including Snyder. Snyder said their goal is messaging center-right voters in swing states, moderate Republicans, including many who voted for Haley in Republican primaries after she was no longer a candidate, to now persuade them to vote for Harris. He said when these voters “come to understand the record as we see it,” they hope to convince them of voting for Harris.

Snyder said he voted for Haley in the Pennsylvania primary as a registered Republican. He also said he had been a registered Republican for over 40 years, ran for Congress as a Republican and was the chief of staff to a Republican United States senator.

Synder said his groups is not bashful that they are Republicans who are “aligned with Democrats in this race, because we think that it’s a coalition of people who support democracy,” Snyder said.

Snyder declined to explain specific figures on fundraising, but said the project will be well-funded to do what their job is. He mentioned text messaging, video advertising and direct digital communications.

“They’ve already expressed an opposition to Donald Trump by voting for Nikki Haley after she was no longer a candidate,” Snyder said. “That was a protest vote against Donald Trump as the leader of the Republican Party.

On the Federal Election Commission site, PivotPAC shows the total raised over the last year was $396,520.96 and total spent was $333,714.53. The group, however, posted on social media platform X on Monday that they spent $1 million supporting Haley.

Haley demands group stop using her name

A letter from a law firm, Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman LLC representing Haley’s presidential campaign demanded that the group “cease and desist from any unlawful use of Ambassador Haley’s name in your political action committee name, and from any use of her name, image or likeness that implies her support for the election of Kamala Harris as President of the United States,” according to the letter shared with The State.

The letter states that the group changing its name violates restrictions. If they did change PivotPAC’s name to something including “Nikki” or “Haley” they would file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and request the maximum sentence, the letter read.

“Any use by you of Ambassador Haley’s name, image, or likeness is without her permission. Ambassador Haley has been clear in her support of Harris’ opponent. Any intimation that Ambassador Haley supports Harris is intentionally false and misleading,” the letter continued.

Snyder wrote via text message that they had not yet seen the letter but would consult with counsel about any legal issues raised, but “in common sense terms this effort to suppress political speech is absurd,” he wrote.

“I am a Haley voter. I am for Harris. There are many others who are like-minded. Why shouldn’t we be able to call ourselves what we are while in no way suggesting that Gov. Haley supports the vice president’s candidacy?” Snyder wrote via text.

Before Haley’s letter, Snyder said there is nothing mysterious about the PAC. “Every campaign these days, almost every campaign these days is supported by Super PACs. And that’s just what we’re doing in this presidential race.”

On Monday, the group tweeted to clarify they were not the “Stand for America,” a Haley-affiliated PAC after Newsweek wrote a story on the group switching its name from Haley Voters for Biden to Haley Voters for Harris.

“Just to clarify, we are not the Nikki Haley-affiliated PAC. That was Stand for America. We did spend $1 million supporting Haley and rallied thousands of voters across the political spectrum to vote for her because she was best for our country. And now we support @KamalaHarris,” the tweet read.

A disclaimer line at the bottom of Haley Voters for Harris website reads “Paid for by PivotPAC and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.Statements expressed on this site are our own and may not reflect Nikki Haley’s or Vice President Harris’ views.”

The Monday tweet also said the group does not claim to speak for Haley. “We are reaching out to a subset of Haley voters who will vote their consciences. Haley said Trump had to earn our votes. He has done nothing to do so - constantly deriding her - and picked Vance as his running mate,” the tweet went on to say.

Haley endorsed Trump at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday after a tumultuous campaign between the two who had thrown insults at each other.

In her speech at the RNC last week, Haley also called out Harris, saying, “Kamala had one job. One job. And that was to fix the border. Now imagine her in charge of the entire country.”