Indian-American Nikki Haley who created history by becoming the first women governor of South Carolina, has said generating jobs and boosting the economy would be her top most priorities.
“We want the government to know the value of a dollar and we want jobs and the economy to come first. This was people finding the power of their voice. It was people saying we want government to remember who it is that they work for,” Nikki Haley, 38, told CNN in an interview.
Born of Sikh parents who migrated from Punjab, Nikki Haley created history by becoming the first woman to occupy the governor’s mansion of South Carolina.
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She is only the second Indian-American to be a Governor of a U.S. State after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana; and also the first Indian American female governor.
According to final tally, Nikki Haley received 51.38 per cent of the total votes polled against her Democratic rival Vincent Sheehan who got 46.89 per cent.
“You know, tomorrow morning there’s going to be a lot of news and a lot of observers that say we made history and in some ways, you can look at me and say we did,” Nikki Haley said in her victory speech.
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“But what I want this to be is that we’re turning a page. We’re turning a page on where we’ve been but the history’s going to be on where we go,” she said.
In her CNN interview, Nikki Haley honestly acknowledged that the last night’s victory hasn’t set in yet, but she is excited.
“This was all about the people saying we’ve had enough. It wasn’t about a party. It was about taking their state and their country back and it started with South Carolina, and we’re thrilled,” she said.
“You know, this is the turning of a new page. This is a time where we go back to the basics. We look at the fact that government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. It was never intended to be all things to all people. And certainly when you give a man a job, you give a man pride. We’re going to give a lot of pride to the state of South Carolina. We’re going to do it with the legislature.” she said.
“We’re going to do it with the people who have their power and their strength back, and we’re going to make South Carolinians proud,” Nikki Haley added.
“You know, politics is the art of distraction,” Nikki Haley responded when asked about the extra-marital allegations against her during the election campaign.
When they saw we were winning, they tried to distract us. We didn’t let that work. Our focus has always been about doing right for the people of this state when it comes to jobs, when it comes to education, and more importantly with spending and how we spend our dollars in government, she said.
“While it was a brutal 18 months and I certainly wouldn’t wish that on anybody, we had to do it, because when you push on the establishment, the establishment pushes back. But it was our job to make sure that we got this done,” Nikki Haley said.
Months after she announced her intention to run for South Carolina governorship in 2009, Nikki was little know on the national horizon till the top Republican leader Sarah Palin came to South Carolina to endorse her candidacy.
She was also endorsed by another top Republican leader, Mitt Romney.
“What I love about Sarah Palin is she’s gotten the people in this country to know the power of their voice.
And when she came to South Carolina we already had a ground swell that was going, but she certainly got the rest of the state to pay attention and listen to our message,” she said.
So I’m very grateful for the help that she and Governor Romney gave, Jenny Sanford, Mark Sanford, all of them, you know, all of that together put the stars in alignment and we’re very grateful, Nikki Haley said.
Haley said that she is proud of her Indian American heritage.
“We certainly are proud for the women in this country. We’re proud for the Indian-American community. We’re proud for our families. But most importantly, we’re proud for the state of South Carolina,” Nikki Haley said.