SPARTANBURG, SC (AP) — Sen. Tim Scott is rolling out the endorsements of more than 140 current and former elected officials from his home state of South Carolina in a bid to put on a show of force in the city’s first presidential primary. South. State.
The support comes as Scott and other presidential candidates aim to continue their campaigns as much of the political world analyzes GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s indictment on dozens of federal charges.
The list of supporters, shared with The Associated Press ahead of an official announcement on Monday, includes State Senator Shane Massey, the current Republican leader of the South Carolina Senate, who called Scott “the genuine conservative leader whose we need in the White House right now.” .”
Daniel Rickenmann, elected in 2021 as the first Republican-aligned mayor of South Carolina’s capital, Columbia in decades, praised Scott’s career, which he said had been dedicated to “focusing on the people at home and supporting local government to solve real problems”.
Scott also lists the official endorsement of former U.S. Representative Henry Brown, whose 1st District Congressman seat Scott won twice before being nominated to the U.S. Senate in 2011 by the then-Governor. Nikki Haley – now among Scott’s rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
The list also includes 28 other current state lawmakers, including Rep. Bruce Bannister, chairman of the powerful state House Ways and Means Committee, as well as former lawmakers, including the longtime Speaker of the House. , Bobby Harrell, 16 mayors of cities and towns across the state and dozens of county-level officials.
Scott said he was “honored to receive endorsements from former colleagues and friends.” It had previously been endorsed by several Senate colleagues, including John Thune and Mike Rounds, both of South Dakota. Coin spoke at Scott’s launch event last month in North Charleston.
Scott’s endorsements in South Carolina come as Republicans aim to navigate the campaign amid Trump’s unprecedented indictment on dozens of federal charges related to his handling of classified documents. Due to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, Trump spent the weekend calling the case against him “ridiculous” and “baseless” during appearances at GOP conventions in Georgia and North Carolina.
Scott, campaigning later this week in Iowa, is among the 2024 Republican hopefuls who have joined Trump in criticizing the case against him. Along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Scott spoke out against the “militarization” of the Justice Department in making his allegations against the former president. Haley has called for an end to “vendetta politics,” and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has pledged to pardon Trump if elected.
Ramaswamy said the federal case was part of “an affront to every citizen” and called it “hypocritical that the DOJ is selectively prosecuting Trump but not” President Joe Biden over his own classified documents case.
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said the federal indictment marks “a sad day for our country” and “reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect office and end his campaign. “.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.