“‘The rise is real’: Haley’s breakout is jolting 2024’s undercard race,” an Oct. 29 Politico report was headlined.

That is Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina legislator and governor, United Nations ambassador and now the Republican presidential candidate to watch. Haley is surging in the 2024 GOP primary sweepstakes; in a new poll, she is tied for second place in the pivotal state of Iowa.

Yes, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Haley, with 16% each, are still far behind former President Donald Trump, who was favored by 43% of likely voters in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses, according to a Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom poll conducted Oct. 22-26.

Since a similar poll in August, DeSantis has lost three percentage points while Haley has gained 10 points. The change is “driven in part by increasing support for Ms. Haley among independent voters,” The New York Times reported.

Haley’s rise, Politico notes, is also “sparked by two widely praised debate performances and a turn in the primary to international affairs — a subject of authority for the former U.N. ambassador,” and she “may have better timing” than any other candidate in the crowded field. “Her ascent, while still only a handful of points nationally, comes amid escalating anxiety within the GOP about the primary field’s failure to winnow.”

Haley is the reason DeSantis can’t call 2024 a “two-man race” anymore, Politico notes. Emphasis on “man.”

Haley’s growing popularity sparks the hope that a woman might lead the GOP out of the doom of another Trump presidential nomination. Influential Republicans and conservative interests “have called for most of the remaining candidates to drop out and consolidate around Haley, the former South Carolina governor,” Politico reported. Last week, “former U.S. senator and New Hampshire Gov. Judd Gregg became the latest to issue a Haley endorsement.”

Women have had a tough time in the GOP. Paltry few politicians of the female persuasion make it into its upper echelons. Haley is the only woman running in the 2024 GOP presidential contest. She is the fifth Republican woman to run for president, compared with 12 female Democrats who have launched bids, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. In general, women are behind the electoral curve.

“In recent years, multiple organizations have helped women win election in higher numbers and capture races at the same rate as men. But they are still much less likely than men to run for office, even if they are equally qualified, research shows,” according to an Associated Press analysis published in July.

Women make up more than half the nation’s population.

Yet, the AP reported, “women accounted for roughly 21% of the major party candidates for U.S. Senate last year and about 31% of U.S. House candidates, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. That follows election cycles in which each party had a record number of women elected. Women constitute less than one-third of the U.S. House and Senate and 31% of statewide elected offices, even with a record 12 female governors after last year’s midterms.”

Haley brings a highly qualified and diverse background to the Republican presidential field. She is of Indian descent and hails from an immigrant family. She is a long way from the nomination, but there is no better time to have a woman take on Trump’s bizarre dominance of the GOP.

“Personally, I think to save the country we need to send a badass Republican woman to this White House,” the AP quoted Haley as saying last summer at an event hosted by Moms for Liberty, a conservative women’s group.

She could be the perfect antidote for Trump’s embrace of bigotry and sexism. Among Trump’s multitudinous sins, he has been accused of sexual harassment and discrimination against women in his personal and business affairs. That may be an advantage for Haley.

Trump’s favorite campaign strategy is lobbing scurrilous nicknames at his opponents. Lately, his insults have been falling flat. Last month Trump grabbed his social media megaphone, Truth Social, to label Haley a “birdbrain.”

“MAGA, or I, will never go for Birdbrain Nikki Haley. No loyalty, plenty of lies!” Trump wrote.

He attacked Haley for previously saying she would not run for president if Trump did and added, “Anyway, Birdbrain doesn’t have the TALENT or TEMPERAMENT to do the job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

That rant came after Haley criticized Trump at a presidential debate. He called her a birdbrain. Women won’t like that. Never mind that, as president, Trump appointed her to serve as U.N. ambassador.

Perhaps female Republican voters, especially moderates and independents in Iowa and New Hampshire, will opt for a “badass” of their own.

Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. She wrote this column for the Chicago Tribune.