COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is about to make his first public appearance in South Carolina, a state the place votes can be vital if he launches an anticipated 2024 presidential bid.
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell informed The Associated Press on Sunday that he would host DeSantis for an match on April 19 in Spartanburg, in South Carolina’s closely Republican Upstate.
DeSantis’ first public talk over with to South Carolina, house of the leadoff presidential number one in the South, comes amid a brisk shuttle agenda all through which the governor has taken his “Florida Blueprint” excursion to Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan in fresh weeks.
With an expected presidential bid in the offing, the shuttle has unfolded an road for DeSantis to lay out a few of his coverage achievements in Florida, putting in place conceivable contrasts with doable GOP competitors, together with former President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, Kimbrell informed the AP that he have been hoping to carry DeSantis to South Carolina for months now, arguing that politically savvy Republicans in the early balloting state are accustomed to having more than one probabilities to get to know presidential applicants, in individual.
“I’ve informed everyone related together with his staff, ’You’ve were given to get right here early and incessantly,'” said Kimbrell, who has already joined efforts with a political action committee urging DeSantis to get into the race. “I’ve tried to make it clear to them that, if you want to win, you’ve got to get here early.” South Carolina for months has been hosting GOP candidates, including Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. There have also been trips from many of those anticipated to join the field, including former Vice President Mike Pence. Later this week, after a swing through Iowa and New Hampshire, Sen. Tim Scott returns home to South Carolina for a summit with donors, as he mulls a bid of his own.
While this would be DeSantis’ first public South Carolina event, he was in the state last year for a gubernatorial fundraiser. The event near Charleston was attended by some of Trump’s top donors in the state.
To Kimbrell, who said he agrees with Trump on policy but not “on the way he approached things personally,” DeSantis is well-positioned to be a better alternative to Trump, but needs to start spending more time in South Carolina.
“I believe that Ron DeSantis is as popular among my base as Trump is,” Kimbrell said, of his heavily GOP district. “But you can’t just mail it in. He’s going to have to press the flesh, roll his sleeves up, and get really serious.”
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
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