Niki Randhawa Haley Is South Carolina Governor

Nimrata (Nikki) Randhawa (Haley), born January 20, 1972, who represents Lexington County in the US House of Representatives, has been elected as the Governor of South Carolina. Her parents, Dr. Ajit and Raj Randhawa, are Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, India.

Haley, who was born and raised as a Sikh, is married to Michael Haley (an officer in the US Army National Guard) and they have two children – Rena and Nalin.

“Indian-American Nikki Haley created history on Wednesday by becoming the first woman governor of South Carolina, with her Republican party trouncing the Democratic party of US President Barack Obama in the nationwide mid-term elections.” reports The Indian Express.

She is only the second India-American to be a Governor of a US State after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana; and also the first Indian-American woman governor. See here…

“She attended Clemson University and majored in accounting and then joined the FCR Corporation (a waste management and recycling company) before joining her mother’s business, Exotica International, an upscale clothing firm in 1994. The family business grew to a multi-million dollar company.

“Haley was named to the Board of Directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce in 1998. She was named to the Board of Directors of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce in 2003. Haley became treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners in 2003 and president in 2004.” More here…

And here’s Nikki Haley’s website…

Overcoming a sex scandal, racial slurs and estrangement from the local GOP establishment, Haley won the Republican nomination for South Carolina governor in June 2010. She has enjoyed the support of friends in high places, most notably governor-turned-tea-party-queen Sarah Palin who endorsed Haley and defended her when scandal broke. See here…