In 2010, Republican Nikki Haley was running for governor in South Carolina when she became the victim of a particularly dirty smear campaign. Political consultant Larry Marchant claimed he’d had an affair stand with the candidate. Suspiciously, Marchant had been employed as a consultant to one of Haley’s rivals in the race, South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, before resigning the same day that he went public with his story. Haley, a married mother of two, vehemently denied the charge, which was not backed up by any proof. It wasn’t the first time such an accusation had surfaced; earlier that year, a conservative blogger, Will Folks, also claimed an affair with Haley that she contested. Her constituents did not appear to believe or care about the allegations, and Haley went on to win the election, declaring, “We said no to the dark side of politics.”
Top 10 Dirty Political Tricks
With South Carolina's notoriously skeevy primary just around the corner, TIME looks back at some of America's darkest moments of political deviousness
Nikki Haley’s Brush with ‘the Dark Side’
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Top 10 Dirty Political Tricks