South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) may not seek reelection in 2014, the Florence Morning News reported Sunday.
Haley, who was first elected as governor in 2010, told the newspaper that while she has a reelection campaign structure in place, she has not formally committed to running for a second term.
"If we look and it’s too much on the family, I could absolutely see [not running again],” she said.
Haley's husband, Michael Haley, deployed to Afghanistan with the National Guard in January. He recently returned to South Carolina for a two-week leave. The couple has two small children.
Despite Haley's reluctance to jump in, the conservative governor has already drawn a likely challenger in Democrat Vincent Sheheen, the state senator who lost to Haley in 2010. Outside groups on both sides of the potential rematch started to air attack ads in May.
In February, Haley announced the formation of a grassroots steering committee for her potential reelection bid, including 164 co-chairs from across the state. However, her staff clarified that Haley had yet to decide whether to run.
“Governor Haley has made clear that she will wait until the summer before deciding whether to run for re-election,” said Haley political director Kurt Pickhardt said in a statement. “However, she has instructed our team to get prepared in the event that she does run."
The committee found itself embroiled in controversy last month when the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report accusing one of the co-chairs of belonging to a white supremacist group. The volunteer, Roan Garcia-Quintana, stepped down from the committee at the request of Haley's camp.
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