Ron DeSantis plans South Carolina return, though slumping in polls

Florida’s Governor will head to the Palmetto State this week in pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination.

Ron DeSantis will be in Upstate South Carolina Thursday afternoon, for events in Anderson and Rock Hill. At the Anderson event, DeSantis will roll out his Veterans coalition.

Friday will find the Governor in Murrell’s Inlet for a morning event, followed by an afternoon stop in Myrtle Beach.

DeSantis has said he’s a “great candidate” for South Carolina and has suggested that despite still being Governor of a different state, he may sign a sublease in South Carolina to make the sale to the state’s Republicans. Yet polling continues to find him well off the pace of not just the former President but also the former Governor of the state.

The Race to the White House polling average shows DeSantis in third place with 13%, trailing Trump (47%) and Haley (17%), but ahead of U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (8%).

New polling from Winthrop University corroborates that read, with DeSantis at 12%, seven points behind Haley and 36 behind Trump.

Another fresh survey, conducted between Sept. 28 and Oct. 1 by Public Opinion Strategies for the Citizen Awareness Project, shows the Governor also in third place at 11% support. That’s down from 24% in a poll conducted June 1.

DeSantis already campaigned earlier this month in upstate South Carolina. He was in Spartanburg and Greenville.

His most interesting campaign stops of the cycle arguably have been in South Carolina, where he dealt with hecklers on a couple of occasions, including an event in Tega Cay interrupted by an LGBTQ+ activist who was removed from the facility after unfurling a Pride flag.

While he was talking, a cadre of men in dark jackets approached the kid with the rainbow flag, preceding his swift departure from the room, which finally earned a direct address from DeSantis.

“And they shouldn’t be worrying about our children either. We don’t want you indoctrinating our children. Leave our kids alone,” DeSantis said, getting cheers throughout the room as the disruptive youth was removed from the premises.

At a different event, when DeSantis was explaining his educational agenda, he was interrupted by someone from the crowd, who called him a “f****** fascist” and briefly derailed a rote speech in Lexington.

“We’re not going to let you impose an agenda on our kids,” the Governor said. “We’re going to stand up for our kids. We’re going to make sure to do it right. That’s what we’re going to do, yeah!”