Nikki Randhawa-Haley

When she was 5 years old, Nikki Randhawa-Haley, 32, declared she wanted to be the mayor of Bamberg, South Carolina, the city she was born in. It is no surprise then that she has entered politics and running for the State Assembly from the 87th district as a Republican.

Just like everything she does, Randhawa-Haley began working on her campaign way back in September when other potential candidates had not even considered entering the race. “Everyone that knows me knows that I like to do things 150 percent. Most of all I want to ma-ke a difference,” she told News India-Times. “My only option is to win. I don’t have any other.”

The 87th district incumbent is Larry Koon, who last year indicated he may not run for re-election, which is what encouraged Randhawa-Haley to consider the run. But, she says, she met Koon a couple of weeks ago and he said he may be running. That hardly fazed her and she has a hectic fundraising schedule, including a March 6 Indian American fundraiser in Lexington, SC. “Bobby Jindal really inspired me to run. He has shown so much courage and put a face on the Indian community. Because it is scary, because people don’t know the culture, the religion. I’ve already faced these things ---- ‘what religion is she, is she Muslim, is she part of that group with Osama bin Laden’.”

Though she is American-born, voters have raised the issue about Randhawa-Haley not being born in the U.S. “And another said, ‘why is she doing this, how can she sacrifice her family, her children.’ So what I am doing is putting a lot of things out there ---- I am addressing all these issues so that they don’t have to ask.”

Randhawa-Haley’s fighting spirit comes from her mother, Raj Randhawa, a businesswoman who started Exotica International, an upscale clothing firm, from a small motel room to a 10,000 sq. ft. establishment with a revenue of $1.8 million in fiscal 2003, according to her father Ajit Randhawa. “We had a leading Republican host a barbeque fundraiser just a few days ago to which 75 people came and Nikki raised $10,000,” he told News India-Times.

“If I win this, I will be the first Indian to be in the state assembly. And people can start looking at County boards, school boards. All that is not happening right now, ” Randhawa-Haley said. She will file her papers between March 16 and March 30 for the June Republican primaries.

Born in Bamberg, SC., in 1972, and raised there before moving to Lexington, Randhawa-Haley attended the Clemson University, majoring in finance. She then worked with FCR Corp. as assistant business manager before joining her mother’s business in 1994. Her sister Simran Singh also works at the family enterprise. Her father is a retired professor of biology who chaired the Department of Natural and Computer Sciences at Voorhees College.

Randhawa-Haley declared her intention to run for the Assembly at her local Lexington Chamber of Commerce where she is on the board of directors. She is also the president-elect for the National Association of Women Business Owners, and chairperson of Lexington Gala which is raising funds for the local hospital.

“She is very active in the community. When she was little in Bamberg, she used to say ‘I’m going to be Mayor of Bamberg.’ She is the only one in the family who has political aspirations. She is a very bubbly, friendly person, very sincere, very down-to-earth,” Raj Randhawa said.

“I have all amazing children. They are very hardworking. When she decided, I was very proud of that and I always knew she would do something political, she had been saying it since she was 5 years old. Morally, spiritually, and financially, we will help her all the way.”

“The reason I decided to get into this was that I am involved in the community already, I was just stepping up my responsibilities, just my way to giving back,” Randhawa-Haley said. “Also, we currently don’t have any Indian holding office. In the past couple of years, we’ve known people who needed to know someone in government to jump hurdles. That’s another reason I thought we Indians are very good at everything we do, but we’re still not in government. And I really just want to show that we are great at that just as we are in medicine or whatever else we do.”

Randhawa-Haley said she estimates she will need $75,000 to win the primaries. “And I need all the support I can get.”