COLUMBIA, SC (AP) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis filed for South Carolina’s Republican primary on Tuesday, becoming the first major party presidential candidate officially on the ballot for the first contest of the south
DeSantis signed his filing papers during a stop at the South Carolina Republican Party headquarters in Columbia, flanked by supporters, including state lawmakers who have backed his bid.
The filing comes at a consequential time for DeSantis and his gubernatorial campaign as he makes his third switch through South Carolina as a White House hopeful. He entered the race in May with the expectation that he would become the primary threat to former President Donald Trump. But DeSantis has struggled to make inroads against Trump, who has a significant lead in the primaries, and recently began cutting campaign staff.
He returned to the campaign trail Monday, when he held an event in Tega Cay, an affluent community on Lake Wylie along the state line with North Carolina.
After about half an hour of remarks, in which he hit the high points of his stump speech, DeSantis also took a handful of questions from the crowd of about 900 gathered to hear him. Among the questionnaires was a woman who described herself as a “die-hard Trump supporter” who said the 2024 election represented “the most important vote we’ll ever have” and who believed DeSantis “made a excellent job” in defending his candidacy.
In his response, DeSantis condemned what he has characterized as the “weaponization of government” in the legal cases being brought against Trump, echoing a line the former president has honed in his own speeches after his indictment on federal charges.
“I appreciate what President Trump did. … He was treated badly, he was treated in unconstitutional ways,” DeSantis said. “Here’s the thing: The question for us now is, what are we going to do about it? … It’s not about me, it’s about you. It’s about me standing up for you and standing up for the Constitution and restoring this country to what they envisioned the founding fathers”.
Later Tuesday in West Columbia, DeSantis, a former Navy officer who served in the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps in Iraq, planned to roll out his plans to reform a U.S. military that has argued that it is too focused on diversity and inclusion efforts.
On Monday night, DeSantis advanced those plans, saying that as commander in chief he would be “starting the awakening” of a military that today is filled with “social experimentation, ideology, the agenda of the awakening, pronouns, drag queens.” The launch, along with a rare press conference, was planned for a stop at the Celebrate Freedom Foundation. The nonprofit, founded by retired military leaders, says on its website that it aims to “honor past aviation pioneers and inspire future aviation and space pioneers” through a STEM outreach program aimed at K-12 students.
The release is the second official statement from DeSantis’ campaign. In June, he laid out his immigration proposals, which call for ending birthright citizenship and ending construction of the southern border wall, during a visit to a Texas border town.
South Carolina will hold its GOP presidential primary on February 24. The state, which also has two 2024 candidates of its own, former Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, is key for Republican presidential contenders and has been strong. base of support for Trump in his previous campaigns.
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Meg Kinnard can be contacted at
