Updated at 11:13 p.m.
Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is planning to make a campaign stop in Vermont on Sunday, March 3, to rally support for her long-shot bid to beat Donald Trump and secure her party’s nomination.
Haley’s campaign announced plans to visit South Burlington’s DoubleTree by Hilton hotel at noon, two days before Town Meeting Day. Vermont voters will cast presidential primary ballots that day.
“You deserve better than a choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump,” her campaign texted to supporters on Monday afternoon.
Rep. Casey Toof (R-St. Albans) said he thinks Haley will enjoy strong support among Republican voters in the state. “I think Americans want a better choice than what was given to them four years ago,” Toof said.
A number of prominent Vermont Republicans are backing Haley over Trump, including Gov. Phil Scott, Toof, Rep. Pattie McCoy (R-Poultney), Rep. Ashley Bartley (R-Fairfax) and former governor Jim Douglas.
“After years of controversy, violent rhetoric and growing polarization, the very last thing we need is four more years of Donald Trump,” Scott wrote when endorsing Haley last month. Scott plans to attend the event on Sunday, spokesperson Jason Maulucci said.
Haley’s campaign may be banking on widespread distaste for the former president’s polarizing politics and the state’s open primary. Vermont voters can cast a ballot in any party’s primary.
Vermont is one of 15 states voting on Super Tuesday.
Bartley confirmed that Haley will attend the rally in person. She’ll be arriving from Maine and will spend about two hours in South Burlington before moving on to her next campaign stop, Bartley said.
“If I’m being completely honest, I want to make sure I’m on the right side of history, and it’s not behind Donald Trump,” Bartley said. “I just can’t see our state going for Donald Trump again. That literally might kill me.”
In the 2020 Republican primary in Vermont, Trump got more than 86 percent of the vote, handily besting former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld.
On Saturday, Haley lost to Trump by 20 points in her home state of South Carolina. She has since turned her attention to Michigan, trying to convince Republicans that Trump can’t beat President Joe Biden in November.
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