COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Voters have elected South Carolina's first woman governor.
Tea-party backed Republican state Rep. Nikki Haley will also become the nation's second Indian-American governor when she replaces term-limited Gov. Mark Sanford. Louisiana's Bobby Jindal also is Indian-American.
Haley won over state Sen. Vincent Sheheen in a contest that flipped between the candidates by the minute Tuesday night.
Haley is a three-term House member who campaigned as a political outsider and earned the backing of Sarah Palin.
The 38-year-old married mother of two beat back unproven accusations of infidelty and questions about her finances and experience.
Sheheen made the contest closer than anyone expected.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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