The two leading candidates in the race for the Republican presidential nomination -- former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich -- added to their teams in South Carolina on Friday, unveiling major endorsements.
Holding its primary on Jan. 21, South Carolina is scheduled to be third in the procession of states, behind Iowa and New Hampshire, that will determine the Republican nominee to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012. The South Carolina Republican primary -- set up with the help of legendary Republican operative the late Lee Atwater, a native of the Palmetto State -- has proven decisive in recent years, helping to erect a firewall in the region for Atwaters candidate George H.W. Bush in 1988 and propelling front-runners Bob Dole over Pat Buchanan in 1996 and George W. Bush over John McCain in 2000.
On Friday, Romney announced the endorsement of Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina.
It is an honor to have the endorsement of Governor Haley, Romney said. As a successful businesswoman who entered public service so government could better serve the people, Governor Haleys career-long efforts to reform government, make government more accountable to the taxpayers, and fight wasteful spending should be examples for leaders across the country. These conservative principles of smaller government are what I am fighting for in my campaign and will be the basis for restoring economic prosperity and fiscal health.
The election next November will have ramifications for generations, said Haley, who is a favorite of the tea party movement. Neither South Carolina nor the nation can afford four more years of President Obama, and Mitt Romney is the right person to take him on and get America back on track. He is a conservative businessman who has spent his life working in the economy, and he understands exactly how jobs are created. He is not a creature of Washington, and he knows what it means to make decisions -- real decisions -- not simply cast a vote. Our country will need real leadership to undo President Obamas failed policies, and replace them with the conservative principles Mitt Romney learned turning around businesses and a failing Olympics and successfully, conservatively, governing a Democratic state. I am proud to endorse him and will work my hardest to ensure he is elected so we can turn around our country.
Haley will serve as a co-chairwoman of Romneys National Steering Committee.
Gingrich announced his chairmen in South Carolina on Friday -- prominent attorneys Billy and Debra Wilkins, a married couple who are currently both with Nexsen Pruet.
A longtime member of the Army and South Carolina National Guard, Billy Wilkins served as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and is a former chairman of the United States Sentencing Commission. He was very active in the recent fight to bring Boeing to South Carolina.
It is an honor and privilege to serve, along with my wife, as state chairs of the South Carolina effort, Wilkins said on Friday. Under Newts leadership as speaker of the House, the budget was balanced for the first time in a generation, welfare was reformed, and taxes were significantly cut. Newt Gingrich has experience, knowledge, and a strong work ethic -- just the kind of track record we need to reverse our stagnant economy and get America growing again."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
