A WOMAN STOOD outside a polling place last Tuesday holding a Nikki Haley sign. A man who was driving away rolled down his window to shout at her, “I hope your children worship cows!” That confused the lady with the sign. The man was a good way down the road before she decided it was meant as a slur on Hinduism. Nikki Haley, by the way, is not a Hindu.

At another point during the House District 87 runoff against incumbent Rep. Larry Koon, Haley campaign manager B.J. Boling received the following e-mail: “Please remember that she is a Buddhist. One of my friends ... verified this for me. I can only vote for a Christian, Larry Koon is a deacon and a wonderful Christrian man an does a lot for bring money into Lexington County. Please send this to your friends.”

Nikki Haley isn’t a Buddhist, either.

A half-page ad in the June 17 edition of the Lexington County Chronicle proclaimed that “there is only one REAL Republican in the run-off,” citing as evidence the fact that Mr. Koon had voted in every Republican primary in recent years, whereas “Nimrata N. Randhawa” once voted in a Democratic primary. Below that was an asterisk with the insinuating footnote, “As the opponent’s name appears on the voter registration files. A different name appears on the ballot.” (Implication: She ain’t from around here, and she’s trying to hide it.)

Nikki Haley uses a different name now because she’s married, and her husband’s name is Haley. She voted in a Democratic primary in 1996 when she was living in Orangeburg County, and there was no Republican primary for the state Senate seat vacated by the death of Marshall Williams.

Mrs. Haley was reluctant to talk about any of the above. That’s because she doesn’t think the nasty stuff is the real story here. And she’s right. The real story is that the people of House District 87 rose above the whispered nonsense and chose her over the man who had represented them for the past 30 years.

After I spoke with her Thursday afternoon, she sent me an e-mail that said, “I enjoyed talking with you and am hopeful that you will make this a very positive story that everyone can feel good about.” Well, I share her hope, because I feel pretty good about it myself. The voters of District 87 showed that the county in which I live is not (despite what some across the river may think) an impregnable bastion of nasty, ignorant, partisan bigots.

“We don’t have narrow-minded people here. We have good, honest people, who make good decisions,” said Mrs. Haley. “They try to do what’s right. And that’s in all aspects of Lexington County.”

She was asked: “Was this strategic? Did you go after ‘new’ Lexington?” In other words, did she target others in the booming area who were “not from around here”? No, she says emphatically. “We went after all Lexington. We didn’t do demographics that way.” She notes that she even won Mr. Koon’s own precinct.

She did it by knocking on doors throughout the district, giving voters the chance to know her personally, rather than by rumor. And it worked.

So whom did the voters elect?

Nikki Haley nee Randhawa was born in 1972 in Bamberg County. Her parents, who had moved to this country three years earlier, were from wealthy families back home in India, but “had to start over” here. Her father used his doctorate to land a job as a college professor. Her mother, with a law degree and a master’s in education, worked three jobs at the same time. She taught 6th grade, sold Tupperware and worked at the post office.

Why had they left their comfort behind in order to scratch out a living in the New World? As they taught their children, money isn’t everything. “They just saw so much more here — the opportunity for a full life.” They decided to build their own business so they would have something to leave their children. Thus Exotica, the upscale clothing store now located on S.C. 378, came into being in 1976.

“They have lived the American dream,” says Mrs. Haley. “They taught us to work hard.” Her brother has served in the U.S. Army for 20 years. Mrs. Haley works in the family business.

And her religion? Well, as her campaign brochure says, “Nikki was proudly raised with her Indian traditions and her husband, Michael, was brought up in the Methodist faith.” She was raised as a Sikh, but was encouraged to visit other churches. She was taught that “There can’t be enough God in your life.” She was married in the Methodist Church. Her children are baptized Methodists. She and the kids attend both a Methodist church and the local Sikh temple.

“I believe in one God,” she explains. “I believe in Jesus. I’m pro-life. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman.”

Finally: “I believe that the faith of a person is defined by their actions, not a label. The best way to appreciate God’s blessings is to give back.” Hence her campaign.

What about her politics? “I have always used the Republican Party as my guide,” she says, but she is no blind partisan. “I just always believe that it’s so important that we look at the person.”

The voters of District 87 looked at the person last week, and decided they liked what they saw in Nikki Haley, who ran on a platform of managed growth, investment in public schools and streamlined government.

That’s very gratifying to Nita McMahon, the lady who was heckled while holding the Haley sign at Red Bank Elementary School. “I am so proud of my fellow citizens,” said the Lexington County native. “I am so proud that they chose such a clean campaign and such a fine person.”

“Isn’t it something,” she marveled, “that a person whose parents are from another country can portray America better than you and I can? They can teach us a lesson of what it means to be an American.”

Write to Mr. Warthen at bwarthen@thestate.com.