“AFP Action is proud to throw our full support behind Nikki Haley, who offers America the opportunity to turn the page on the current political era, to win the Republican primary and defeat Joe Biden next November,” AFP president and CEO Emily Seidel wrote in a memo announcing the group's decision.

WASHINGTON — The political network financed largely by billionaire Charles Koch is endorsing former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the Republican primary, affording her new support against her Republican rivals in the fight to be the alternative to Donald Trump.

The 2024 Republican presidential candidate is seeing a swell in media coverage, new interest from big-dollar donors and increasing chatter that she is poised to make a real run at Donald Trump.

It started in September: a much-debated CNN poll said Haley was the only Republican at the time who would beat Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head. But in the weeks that followed, it proved to not be a fluke. In October, a Fox News poll showed her leading Biden by four points. Last week, a Marquette poll showed her up ten.

Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the powerful Koch network, has formally endorsed Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign

The endorsement comes as Mrs Haley seeks to establish herself as the alternative to Mr Trump.

Conservative powerhouse’s move comes as some other big Republican donors have backed former U.N. ambassador’s campaign.

In a memo on Tuesday, Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action) - the Koch network's political advocacy arm - celebrated Mrs Haley as "a candidate capable of turning the page o