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       The Republican presidential campaign of Nikki Haley on Monday announced plans to launch a $10 million ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire starting in early December as she jockeys with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to become the main GOP alternative to former president Donald Trump.

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       The sizable advertising investment for Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor, comes at a critical point in the GOP presidential campaign cycle. The number of Republicans seeking the nomination is dwindling as the start of the presidential nominating contests near, and candidates are seeking to position themselves to directly take on Trump, the front-runner in the race.

       Haley’s campaign initially struggled to gain traction, but she rose in stature over the summer, bolstered by solid performances at the Republican debates. Her aides have argued that she is better-positioned than DeSantis to perform well in Iowa, New Hampshire and her native South Carolina. The DeSantis campaign has steered a large share of its resources toward Iowa.

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       While Haley’s advertising plan in Iowa and New Hampshire is aggressive, campaign ad investments are fluid and can be scaled down or otherwise changed over time.

       Tim Scott suspends struggling presidential primary bid

       In a statement announcing the buy — which will include television, radio and digital advertising across the two states — Haley’s campaign was critical of DeSantis’s operation and asserted that she’s “the only candidate other than Donald Trump who is positioned to do well” in Iowa and New Hampshire.

       In an email sent Monday, SFA Fund, a super PAC supporting Haley in the race, also pointed out that Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting DeSantis, recently canceled ad buys in Iowa and New Hampshire during November.

       The DeSantis campaign on Monday dismissed the jabs made by the Haley campaign and SFA Fund. Communications director Andrew Romeo said in a statement the campaign is “confident the Iowa voters will see who will best represent them and their values.”

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       Haley was tied for second with DeSantis in an October NBC News-Des Moines Register-Mediacom Iowa poll.

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       In the poll, Trump led DeSantis among independents, but it also showed that Haley has doubled her support among the group. Haley overtook Trump and DeSantis among suburban respondents, and she ranked ahead of DeSantis among likely caucus-goers with a college degree, among men ages 65 or older, among White women with a college degree and women ages 44 or younger.

       The former South Carolina governor also won last week’s GOP primary debate, according to participants in a 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll. Among potential Republican primary and caucus voters who watched last Wednesday’s debate, a plurality, or 34 percent of debate watchers, said Haley performed best. DeSantis was second with 23 percent rating him best. Trump did not participate in the debate.

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       Haley has predicted that the field will winnow with each debate and following the Iowa and New Hampshire contests, resulting in a head-to-head with Trump in her home state of South Carolina.

       In recent weeks, the number of Republican presidential candidates has been narrowing.

       Late last month, former vice president Mike Pence (R), who served alongside Haley in the Trump administration, announced he was suspending his presidential campaign. And on Sunday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said he would be leaving the race, too.

       Scott caught the attention of major donors during the campaign, entering the race with $22 million from his Senate campaign and raising more than $10 million over less than three quarters of the year. But his spending far exceeded what he was taking in and he struggled to gain ground in polling, leading to his exit from the race.

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       Haley appointed Scott to the Senate and the two candidates briefly overlapped in the South Carolina State House.

       Allies of both say they have a cordial relationship — though the debates have featured new levels of open conflict — but one that underscores their overlapping pool of home-state donors. When some donors who know both candidates gave Haley a heads-up earlier this year they would be backing Scott, Haley told them she would be there to welcome their support if they changed their minds.

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