The South Carolina Republican Party is launching a conference series in a bid to attract potential 2024 presidential hopefuls and bolster the state’s status as a critical primary destination.
The inaugural event — dubbed the First in the South Republican Action Conference — is slated to take place in Myrtle Beach from Oct. 29-31. The plan is to hold the conference every other year, meaning that the next event will take place in 2023, just months before the South Carolina presidential primaries.
South Carolina GOP Chair Drew McKissick told the Charleston-based Post and Courier that the party is sending out invitations to “pretty much every national-level Republican you can think of” this week. Among them are former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.
South Carolina plays a crucial role in the presidential nominating process for both parties as the first state in the South to vote in the primaries, and it’s not unusual for potential White House hopefuls to travel there early to introduce themselves to voters.
But the new event series marks an effort to elevate the state even more ahead of the 2024 Republican presidential contest, which could feature a crowded field of high-profile contenders ranging from governors to U.S. senators to former Trump administration officials like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Two South Carolinians, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, are also seen as potential 2024 candidates.
While the 2024 nominating contest is still more than two years away, would-be Republican candidates have already begun criss-crossing the country, looking to introduce themselves to key electorates and test the waters for a potential White House bid.
Pence held a donor retreat last week in Jackson Hole, Wyo., while other prominent Republicans, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), have made appearances in other early primary and caucus states like Iowa and New Hampshire over the past several weeks and months.