[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/21/art.haley.nh.jpg caption="Nikki Haley earned more than $40,000 in 2007 and 2008 consulting for one of South Carolina's largest engineering firms."]Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley earned more than $40,000 in 2007 and 2008 consulting for one of South Carolina's largest engineering firms, according to tax records from those years released by her campaign on Monday.

Haley's work for the firm, Wilbur Smith Associates, was first revealed last week when the campaign allowed reporters to view her 2009 tax records. The records showed that Haley collected $2,000 from the company, money she did not disclose on state ethics filings.

According to the additional records released Monday afternoon, just hours before she faces Rep. Gresham Barrett in a runoff election for the GOP nomination, Haley earned $30,000 from the company in 2007 and $10,500 in 2008. She was first elected to the state legislature in 2004.

Robert Ferrell, the firm's southeast region business development manager, told CNN last week that he hired Haley because she was "a connected person who had access to a lot of folks and information."

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[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/27/art.nikkihaley8.nh.jpg caption ="GOP gubernatorial front runner Nikki Haley made her 2009 tax records available to reporters Thursday."]

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) – The engineering executive who hired Nikki Haley for consulting work while she served in the South Carolina legislature said Friday that Haley's political and business connections helped his company get ahead.

Haley, now the frontrunner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, was paid $2,000 in 2008 by the engineering firm, Wilbur Smith Associates. The income was disclosed Thursday after Haley made her 2009 tax records available to reporters. Her 2008 paycheck did not clear until 2009, she said.

Her opponent in the June 22 runoff election, Rep. Gresham Barrett, had previously revealed his income and tax records in keeping with federal disclosure laws.

Haley was hired as a consultant by Robert Ferrell, the southeast region business development manager for Wilbur Smith Associates.

Ferrell told CNN that Haley, a state representative from Lexington County, entered into "a business relationship" with the firm in 2007 or 2008. Their relationship extends back to when the two served together on the Lexington Chamber of Commerce board of directors, he said.

"I knew her to be a connected person who had access to a lot of folks and information, and in my business, that sort of information is critical to get ahead," Ferrell told CNN. "If she would hear about things that were going on, primarily county-type stuff, or developers who were getting ready to do stuff, she would give us a heads up, and we would see where it went."

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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/24/art.nikki.haley.youtube.jpg caption ="Some supporters of Nikki Haley's GOP gubernatorial runoff challenger are questioning if Haley is being straightforward about her religious beliefs."]

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - A supporter of Gresham Barrett emailed Republican activists in South Carolina on Friday questioning whether Nikki Haley, Barrett's opponent in the GOP gubernatorial runoff, is being straightforward about her religious beliefs.

Haley was raised Sikh but became a Methodist at the age of 24.

The email, circulated by Pickens County GOP chairman Phillip Bowers, was provided to CNN by a Haley supporter.

Pickens County is in the heart of the South Carolina upstate, where most of the state's evangelical population resides. Barrett also hails from the region and is relying on heavy turnout from his home base in the June 22 runoff.

Bowers provided links to two articles about Haley's religious background, and noted: "There seems to be something strange going on here."

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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/02/art.youtube.cnn.jpg caption="Nikki Haley, seen above in a television ad, is leading her runoff race against Gresham Barrett, a source close to Haley told CNN."](CNN) - Nikki Haley's campaign is touting an internal poll that shows the South Carolina gubernatorial candidate with a commanding lead in her runoff race against Republican rival Gresham Barrett.

Also Thursday, the Republican Governors Association said it considers Haley's lead so imposing that they have no plans to support her financially in the runoff.

"A bonfire 60 feet high doesn't need more fuel poured on it," RGA Executive Director Nick Ayers told CNN. "Nikki's going to be just fine."

The poll, which surveyed likely GOP primary voters on Wednesday, comes as both campaigns are jousting for media exposure and dialing donors for last minute contributions.

Results of the survey were provided to CNN by a source close to Haley. CNN cannot independently verify the methodology of the poll.

The poll shows that Haley's support has shot up 13 points since her dominant showing in Tuesday's Republican primary and she now leads Barrett by a 62-28 margin, according to the poll. Haley finished with 49 percent of the vote on Tuesday, while Barrett trailed a distant second with 22 percent.

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