State of the Race

The Political Team’s newsletter is a one-stop-shop for all your 2024 election news. Curated by the members of the Political team, it covers current politics affecting the election landscape, candidate announcements and profiles, and hot policy topics. We hope you’ll join us this election cycle!

Welcome

Welcome to the second edition of Mock Convention 2024’s State of the Race newsletter, where we will bring what’s happening in the race toward 2024 straight to your inbox. Our goal is to make something you can rely on to help you stay informed. You don’t have to read every poll and every news story to get the most accurate information. We’ve got you covered. 

I’m Foster Harris, the Political Chair for the 28th Mock Convention. Here’s what the Political Department is watching.

Interested in joining the team?

But first… we’re hiring! Mock Convention 2024’s Political Department is currently seeking applications for the State Chair position. We’re looking for students with strong communication and leadership skills to fill this vital role. This is the last leadership role available to students and one that you don’t want to miss.

Here’s W&L alum and Mock Convention 2024 Board of Advisors member Emory Cox, who now works in the United States Senate, on what the State Chair role means to him: “Serving as Alabama State Chair for the 2016 Mock Convention was an incredibly rewarding experience. In addition to building relationships with key stakeholders in the state as part of the research portion of the job, I made fantastic memories with friends who signed up to join the delegation. Serving as a state chair is a great opportunity to sharpen your political acumen - while having a lot of fun in the process.

Applications can be found on Handshake and will be due Wednesday, March 29th, at 11:59 PM EST. 

Have any questions or want to chat and learn more? Email our Political Chair, Foster Harris, at harrisf24@mail.wlu.edu or any of our Regional Chairs.

TLDR

More on all of this below, but here’s the short version. Members of the Political Department traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to see Nikki Haley launch her presidential campaign, making the race to 2024 officially on. There, she delivered a generational pitch that underscored the historic nature of her campaign.

Our Platform Chair, Claire Cerone, has put together a high-level summary of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Commitment to America platform, which you can view here.

Live from Charleston!

The race is on! Former South Carolina Governor and Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley joined former President Donald Trump in the Republican race for the presidency last Wednesday. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is the first Republican woman of color to run for president. She made her entrance into politics by toppling a 30-year incumbent, won her first gubernatorial race as an underdog nicknamed “Nikki who,” and has never lost an election she has run in. 

Members of the Political Department traveled to Charleston, South Carolina to witness Haley kick off her historic run to be the Republican nominee in 2024. There, we talked to members of her staff, journalists and potential voters. Here’s what we learned: Haley is now the second candidate in what is expected to be a crowded primary, joining Donald Trump. You can read our full takeaways from the speech here.

Introductions and Endorsements

Haley was introduced by former South Carolina RNC State Chair Katon Dawson, Cindy Warmbier, and Congressman Ralph Norman (R-SC). Haley’s support from Warmbier and Norman points to what her campaign might look like. Warmbier’s son, Otto Warmbier, was imprisoned, tortured, and killed by the North Korean regime. Warmbier painted Haley as “a glimmer of light in the darkest moment of her life” who has never stopped fighting for Otto—potentially a dig at Donald Trump’s friendly meetings with Kim Jong Un. 

Congressman Norman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, endorsed Haley and painted her as a “political outsider” who would have “been right there with us” during Kevin McCarthy’s Speaker of the House vote that HFC members, including Norman, held up. 

A Historic and Generational Pitch

The majority of Haley’s speech focused on the America she sees and her political story thus far. She made sure to announce her run and close her speech with a call “for a strong America, for a proud America.” But Haley’s main pitch was a recurring call for a new generation of political leaders while underscoring the historic nature of her campaign. 

Haley was born in 1972, the same year that now-President Joe Biden was first elected to the U.S. Senate. We expect Haley, who is 51 years old—a quarter century younger than Donald Trump—to use her relative youth and generational argument to differentiate her campaign. Among her supporters, the message was well received. Aside from announcing her run, her biggest applause arrived when she quipped “America isn’t past its prime, its politicians are.” 

Kicking off the race, she confidently asserted: “I’ve been underestimated before—that’s always fun. And I’ve been shaking up the status quo my entire life. As I set out on this new journey, I will simply say this: may the best woman win.”

Who We Talked To

We spoke to a number of journalists at the event, including the Washington Post’s Arjun Singh. When asked what he looks for at events like Haley’s announcement, Singh said, “I’m particularly interested in why there is an enthusiasm level for a candidate at this [early] stage … What is it that people are excited about … Who is Nikki Haley in South Carolina, to the people who know her best.”

We also spoke to a few attendees about their thoughts on the event and Haley’s prospects. Ken, a longtime Nikki Haley supporter from Savannah, Georgia who showed up in a homemade “Nikki 2024” shirt, said that he was supporting Haley because “she is not polarizing … her foreign policy work at the United Nations was really inspiring.”

What’s New?

With the fallout from the midterms ongoing and the state of play for the 2024 race looking as uncertain as ever, we’re following the progression of state-level polls and are talking to those in the know. We’re actively building a 50-state, beltway, and territories network so we can absorb as much information as possible. 

Our Platform Chair, Claire Cerone, has penned an expert-level summary of House Republicans’ Commitment to America, informed by policy analysis and a number of high-ranking members of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s staff. You can read her takeaways and summary of the campaign season and pre-midterms policy initiative here. 

A Winter Meeting to Remember

At their February Winter Meeting, the Republican National Committee’s 168 members elected Ronna McDaniel to another term as Chair. The RNC also has a new Treasurer, W&L parent and Mock Convention 2024 Board of Advisors member K.C. Crosbie—Kentucky’s National Committeewoman!

What We’re Reading: