race before a surprise endorsement from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, three weeks before the primary vote. The Republican gubernatorial primary took place on June 8, 2010, and Haley captured 49% of the vote, forcing a runoff election on June 22. Haley won handily in the runoff vote. Haley was elected governor on November 2, 2010, defeating the Democratic candidate, Vincent Sheheen 51% to 47%. She is considered the third non-white governor elected by a Southern state, after Virginia's Douglas Wilder and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal. 2014 re-election On August 12, 2013, Haley announced she would seek a second term as governor. She faced a challenge in the Republican primary from Tom Ervin. However, Ervin withdrew and later re-entered the 2014 gubernatorial campaign as an independent. As in 2010, Vincent Sheheen of the Democratic Party ran against Haley. Republican-turned-Independent Tom Ervin was also running in the early stages of the contest, as were Libertarian Steve French and United Citizens Party candidate Morgan Bruce Reeves. The first public debate was held in Charleston on October 14 between French, Ervin, Haley, Reeves, and Sheheen. The second public debate in Greenville on October 21 again included all five candidates. A week after the second debate, Ervin withdrew from the race and endorsed Sheheen. Haley was re-elected on November 4, 2014, with a 55.9 percent to 41.3 percent win, almost tripling her margin of victory over Sheheen in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Tenure Haley began serving as governor of South Carolina in January 2011. In 2012, former governor Mitt Romney considered her for his vice-presidential running mate. In April 2012, Haley said that she would turn down any potential vice presidential offer: "I'd say thank you, but no, I made a promise to the people of this state. And I think that promise matters. And I intend to keep it." During her second term, Haley feuded with veteran lawmakers in the General Assembly. She endorsed powerful senate finance chairman Hugh Leatherman's primary opponent in 2016. After winning the primary, Leatherman stated that Haley was not just a lame duck, but a "dead duck." Her second term as governor was set to expire on January 9, 2019; however, Haley resigned her position on January 24, 2017, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Haley delivered the official Republican response to President Barack Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address on January 12, 2016. In