Top 5 GOP Candidates Who Didn’t Run but Could Have Beaten Hillary

3. Gov. Nikki Haley

Haley has shot to GOP stardom since her victory in 2011 to become the 116th Governor of South Carolina. Haley, who is the first woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, the youngest current governor in the United States at the age of 44, and the second Indian-American governor in the United States (after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana), has quickly become one of the leading voices within the Republican Party. Haley’s national recognition came when she delivered the Republican response to Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address and her subsequent endorsement of Marco Rubio in the GOP primary.

Haley represents the soft-establishment branch in the Republican Party, much to the same vein as Rubio, thus making her an easier pill to swallow for Democrats and independents/moderates to vote for. As a woman and an Indian-American, Haley would be able to attract a great deal of the woman and minority vote; demographics Clinton desperately would need. Also, Haley’s relative lack of national exposure would be a benefit for her, especially when considering the baggage Clinton possesses.