Toronto, July 28 - Yet another Indian American, this time a woman born to Sikh parents from Amritsar, is in the race to become governor of a US state.

Nikki Randhawa Haley, 37, who is in the fray for the post of governor of South Carolina in the US, says she is in the race to win. If she gets elected, Nikki will be the first Indian American woman to become governor in the US, and the second Indian after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana state.

A member of the South Carolina state assembly since 2004, Nikki is one of the three candidates to seek nomination from her Republican party for the 2010 elections.

'I don't do anything halfway -- I'm in this race to win,' Haley told IANS in an interview. 'I am confident that come November 2010, the people of South Carolina will send me to the Governor's Mansion.'

And she was quick to add: 'When they (voters) do, I will immediately get to work to give them progress that makes them proud.'

Born to Sikh parents from Amritsar, Nikki said she is now in the midst of raising money for her campaign to succeed.

'As we travel across the state meeting with folks and spreading the message of bringing good government back to South Carolina, folks have been incredibly responsive.

'This is going to be an expensive race, and we need all the support we can get, but I have every confidence we will raise every dollar we need to win,' she said.

Her message is resonating with the people of her state as she campaigns on a three-point agenda: reining in out-of-control spending, making government more accountable and tackling high unemployment rate by taking care of South Carolina businesses.