COLUMBIA, SC (AP) — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plans to file his candidacy for the 2024 South Carolina Republican presidential primary when he is in the South’s first voting state next week, becoming the first hope of the GOP to do so.
DeSantis will file his documents at the state’s GOP headquarters in Columbia on Tuesday, his campaign told The Associated Press on Friday.
DeSantis will formalize his candidacy during his third campaign stint through South Carolina, where Republican hopes have already been clashing for more than a year. On Monday, he stops at Tega Cay, an affluent community in Lake Wylie, along the border with North Carolina.
After signing his candidacy papers, DeSantis plans to roll out a policy in Colombia, campaign details of which were not immediately released. This will be DeSantis’ second policy announcement, following his immigration proposals – which call for ending birthright citizenship and completing construction of the southern border wall – outlined during a June visit to a city Texas border.
The trip to South Carolina follows a Friday GOP rally in Iowa, where DeSantis and other hopefuls — but not former President Donald Trump, the current frontrunner in the field — were scheduled to appear at the Family Leadership Summit.
It’s one of many events to be held across Iowa in the coming weeks as voters begin to more seriously consider their options in the six months remaining until the first caucuses, and the vast field of Republican candidates in the presidential race is trying to build bases of support to challenge Trump’s first advance in the field.
South Carolina is set to hold its GOP presidential primary on February 24. The state, which also has two local 2024 candidates – former Governor Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott – is key for Republican presidential candidates and has been a strong base of support for Trump in his previous campaigns.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP