Tiffany James has spent her career working to advance Democratic priorities, and thats why shes committed to helping Nikki Haley beat Donald Trump in South Carolinas GOP presidential primary.

We want to convince people to put country over party and to say our democracy is at stake, James, a South Carolina organizer for Primary Pivot, a national super PAC whose goal is to persuade Democrats to vote in open primaries for Haley. We need to make the best decisions and put our vote strategically toward someone who can help keep our democracy intact.

James, a South Carolinian who has worked on the Democratic presidential campaigns of Pete Buttigieg and John Kerry, realizes this isnt the easiest sell for many Democrats. But the idea isnt that theyll have to vote for Haley, South Carolinas former governor, in the general election or even that theyll have to switch registrations. Its a one-time vote for Haley on Feb. 24, with the goal of stopping the candidate seen as the more dangerous of the two remaining GOP options, neither of whom Democrats actually want getting near the White House.

A lot of her policies and platforms I dont agree with, but we can agree on democracy. Haley isnt someone who will inspire an insurrection or who would deny the election. She is somebody who respects our Constitution and respects our democracy, James said. That is the one thing we can agree on.

Trumps allies have made much of Haleys electoral and financial support from Democrats, arguing that you cant rely on non-Republicans to win a GOP primary and suggesting Haley should drop out of contention. At the same time, some of Haleys recent attacks on Trump, particularly her repeated suggestions that hes mentally unfit for office, have direct appeal to the type of anti-Trump Democrats who could chip in with small-dollar donations.

The ex-presidents campaign on Friday afternoon blasted out a roundup of press clips with a subject line drilling the point: Nikki Haley Is Funded by Democrats, Wall Street, & Globalists.

Haleys campaign insisted theres no effort to chase Democrats with tough talk on Trump, which presumably isnt to woo Trumps own base, though the campaign suggested it was looking beyond the GOP for votes.

The Republican Party has to be a story of addition again, not subtraction, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement to HuffPost. Trump lost races we should have won in 2018, 2020, and 2022. If Republicans want to start winning again, we have to start bringing in new voters, including independents and Democrats who are fed up with Joe Bidens bad policies.