A prominent Democratic donor has no plans to continue donating to GOP contender Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign after she lost the New Hampshire primary, his adviser said.
Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, had told Haley’s campaign before the New Hampshire primary that “investment was based on winning” the Granite State, his adviser Dmitri Mehlhorn told CNN. They have not spoken with Haley’s team since, he said.
“If she had won New Hampshire there would have been a huge push to raise many tens of millions for her to build on that momentum in South Carolina and Super Tuesday,” Mehlhorn said.
Hoffman initially donated $250,000 to the pro-Haley super PAC, SFA Fund Inc.
“Maybe the idea is that she pokes him until he gets baited into debating her, and then there is a ‘hive collapse’ moment where people see how much he’s lost it? No one had made that clear case to me, and right now I don’t see it,” Mehlhorn said.
GOP donor also drops Haley: Metals magnate Andy Sabin is also no longer contributing to Haley’s campaign, saying Thursday he strongly believes she should exit the Republican primary race to preserve her reputation and future political prospects.
“I don’t want her to continue and humiliate herself in South Carolina by losing by 31 points,” he said.
Sabin said he did not donate much to Haley’s campaign because he only started supporting her relatively recently, when Sen. Tim Scott exited the presidential field. He said he hopes to support Haley in 2028.
This post has been updated with comments from Sabin.
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