Former North Texas elected leaders back Nikki Haley for president: 'We're still sticking with her'
DALLAS – Former State Senator Florence Shapiro of Plano is hoping Republicans and Independents will give Nikki Haley a serious look for President in the upcoming Texas primary. "I just found somebody I really, really liked."
Former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price agrees. "I love this gal. She's not just about the politics, she's about public service first and foremost."
Price, Shapiro and Stacy Blakeley of Dallas, a volunteer for Haley's campaign, are looking forward to Haley holding a campaign rally in at Gilley's Dallas Thursday night.
Her event comes one year to the day after she entered the race for the White House.
Now, Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is the only other major Republican candidate in the race aside from the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.
Price was among a group of Texas women who went to Iowa to campaign for Haley. A group "Women for Nikki" has formed.
Price, Shapiro and Blakeley told CBS News Texas that in Dallas and Fort Worth several weeks ago, more women attended gatherings to show their support for Haley than expected.
Blakeley said, "They're excited and they are engaged in a way that I think even like Florence and Betsy would probably agree, we were a little blown away that morning by Nikki was not even at the coffee and we had that room packed and what I felt like afterwards is people, what can I do, what can I do?"
Shapiro said, "There was excitement in the room. I mean we had 271 women. We were hoping to have, we thought we'd have 70, had 271. They had to keep bringing chairs in, and the room was ignited."
Price said it was a similar situation in Fort Worth. "The same day y'all did the morning coffee, we did a cocktail reception in Fort Worth, and we were hoping for 65 to 70 people. We had 125 to 130 people, and I'm telling you they were so excited."
Haley's campaign has said she raised $16.5 million last month and $1.7 million in California last week.
She was headlining a private fundraiser in Dallas Thursday before her rally. But Haley remains far behind Trump in the primary polls in states across the country.
A Texas poll released Feb. 7 by Morning Consult shows Trump leading Haley, 84% to 15%, a signal many Republicans have made up their minds.
In response Price said, "If you look at the corresponding polls to those that support Trump so much, there's also the one that says 70% of Americans don't want either one of the candidates that are leading now."
She urged people to vote in the primary to have their voice heard.
Blakeley said her message to Republicans is simple, "I would love to win, and at the national level with the current trajectory, we have lost time and time again. We've certainly lost the popular vote, the last six elections and so electability in the general is so important."
Shapiro acknowledged the polls. "None of us is naive. We know the numbers, we're not Pollyanna. We know exactly what it looks like, but we're still sticking with her. She's got the grit, and she's got the grace, and we're going to stay with her, with her grit and grace, and follow her lead."
The Texas primary on March 5 is part of Super Tuesday when people in 16 states and territories vote.
The next big primary is Saturday, Feb. 24 in Haley's home state of South Carolina.