NEW YORK — Nikki Haley ‘s presidential campaign will reserve $10 million in television, radio and digital advertising across Iowa and New Hampshire beginning in the first week of December, a massive investment designed to give the former United Nations ambassador an advantage over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a critical moment in the GOP nomination fight.

Details of the advertising plans, which represent the Haley campaign’s first official advertising reservation, were obtained by The Associated Press ahead of a public announcement Monday.

Haley’s planned investment, as of now, is more than five times larger than DeSantis’ current advertising reserves for the same time period, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact.

Haley’s move comes as she fights to emerge as the clear alternative to former President Donald Trump to represent the GOP against President Joe Biden next fall. DeSantis stands as Haley’s strongest competition for her party’s second-place slot, although the Florida governor’s campaign has shown signs of financial strain following a tumultuous summer.

Trump remains the overwhelming front-runner in the GOP primary. Rival campaigns are betting that if they can emerge as the main alternative to Trump that they can consolidate enough support to mount a strong challenge against him or replace him if he falters. Trump faces four criminal indictments, including a case focusing on his efforts to overturn his 2020 general election defeat in Georgia and another on felony charges for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent Jan. 6, 2021 riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

In U.S. politics, fundraising and advertising strategy can often be more consequential than a candidate’s policies or personality. But money raised and spent by campaigns only tell part of the story in the 2024 election.

Haley will run her advertising through Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary to follow. As of now, the DeSantis campaign is spending only in Iowa.

Haley’s campaign declined to say whether the ads would attack DeSantis or Trump directly. But campaign manager Betsy Ankney called out DeSantis’ campaign, which after winning the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds argued that Haley and others in the GOP field could only be “spoilers.”

“Nikki Haley’s momentum and path to victory are clear,” Ankney said. “The same can’t be said for Ron DeSantis, who, even with a decent showing in Iowa, can’t afford a cup of coffee at the Red Arrow diner in New Hampshire and is a mere tourist in South Carolina.”