DES MOINES, Iowa — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ campaign raised eyebrows Friday night by announcing that his first stop following Monday’s Iowa caucus would be South Carolina rather than New Hampshire— the next contest on the GOP’s nominating calendar.
After holding a watch party with his supporters in West Des Moines Monday night, the plan is for the 45-year-old to fly to Greenville, SC for an event Tuesday morning before doubling back to the Granite State for an evening town hall with CNN, his campaign confirmed.
DeSantis’ campaign schedule was first reported by the Associated Press.
“This campaign is built for the long haul. We intend to compete for every single available delegate in New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and then into March,” spokesman Andrew Romeo told The Post.
While the DeSantis camp insisted that their man was not abandoning New Hampshire ahead of the Jan. 23 primary, polls show his standing has fallen in the state over several months.
As of Friday evening, DeSantis was averaging 6.5% support in New Hampshire, a distant fourth place behind former President Donald Trump (43.5%), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (29.3%) and withdrawn former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (11.0%).
In April of last year, by contrast, DeSantis was averaging 29.3% support in RCP’s average, exactly where Haley stands now.
In South Carolina, which holds its primary Feb. 24, DeSantis is also lagging way behind with an average of 11% support, according to RCP. Trump was well in front with an average of 52% backing, while Haley was second in her own home state at 21.8%.
Despite DeSantis’ low standing, the Florida governor’s campaign has made a point of needling Haley over her six-year stewardship of the Palmetto State before she became Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Team DeSantis has previously boasted that their candidate has scored 74 endorsements from current and former South Carolina elected officials, compared to 14 who have endorsed Haley. DeSantis even invited two of those endorsers as his guests to Wednesday night’s head-to-head debate with Haley in Des Moines.
DeSantis has also upped his attacks against Haley as she has risen in the polls, arguing that her campaign is controlled by liberal donors and that she is out of touch with the issues driving the party grassroots.
The Florida governor has banked heavily on a strong showing in Iowa to transform the landscape of the GOP race.
“I think that being the underdog suits me better,” he told reporters Tuesday. “Starting with Iowa, you’re gonna see a lot of a lot of fluidity with this.”
“We will kick our campaign into overdrive in both South Carolina and New Hampshire. We hope Donald Trump is ready for a long, scrappy campaign as we work to share Ron DeSantis’ vision across America. Game on,” Romeo added Friday.
In 2016, then-candidate Trump bounced back from a loss in the Iowa caucus by sweeping the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, giving him a lead in the race for the Republican nomination that he never relinquished.