Nikki Haley Denies Claim of 2nd Affair

Here we go again: A South Carolina lobbyist resigned from a rival political campaign yesterday and then became the second man to claim he had a tryst with Nikki Haley. Lobbyist Larry Marchant says he and Haley, who's running for governor, had a "one night indiscretion" in a Salt Lake City hotel room in June 2008, but admitted he had no proof to back up his allegation. "You can't have any evidence on a one night affair," he says.

"It never happened," Haley responds, attributing the charges as a response to her surging popularity. "A couple weeks ago we started going double digits up in the polls and now we have had everything thrown at us." Marchant said he felt he had to go public after old rumors about a liaison were rekindled by blogger Will Folks' claims, and he started getting calls from a reporter. Part of the reason he came forward, he added, was Haley's categorical denial last week of being unfaithful to her husband. Click here for more on the Nikki Haley saga. (More governor stories.)