COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – If South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for United Nations ambassador, her successor will be an entrenched veteran of the state’s GOP who as attorney general decided not to prosecute then-Gov. Mark Sanford for his spending after his disappearance to rendezvous with his mistress.
Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, a 69-year-old known for his ability to disagree affably, would get the job he’s long wanted in the governorship. His leadership offers a sharp contrast in style if not in substance from Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants and the nation’s youngest governor at 44, who hasn’t hesitated to publicly bash legislators who differed with her.
McMaster also was the nation’s first statewide officeholder to back Trump for president, in an endorsement before the state’s first-in-the-South presidential primary. The move stunned political observers, but McMaster’s support never wavered, despite Democrats’ calls to withdraw it.
He told The Associated Press last month he never regretted the endorsement.
“No ma’am, the more it went on, the more confident I was he was the man for the job,” he said in his characteristic, genteel drawl. He’s revealed little about what he would do as governor, and his office said he wasn’t available for an interview.