Exclusive: Rubio eyes SC surprise in GOP primary
Marco Rubio refused Tuesday to call South Carolina a must-win state in his bid to win the Republican presidential nomination.
But the first-term U.S. senator from Florida told The State that he is encouraged by his stronger-than-expected, third-place finish in Iowa Monday and his endorsement Tuesday by U.S. Tim Scott of North Charleston.
“He and I are conservatives for the same reason. We believe that free enterprise and limited government is the best way to help people who are trying to make it,” Rubio said while campaigning in New Hampshire, where the next primary takes place Feb. 9. “In so many ways, he embodies everything that I believe the conservative movement needs to be in the 21st century. I think it’s a great validator, and I know the people of South Carolina trust him.”
Rubio, the top establishment candidate in the GOP field, also has U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, the popular Spartanburg Republican who heads the House special panel investigating the Benghazi attack, in his camp. He could snatch one last coveted S.C. endorsement from Republican Gov. Nikki Haley.
Rubio said he has not asked the Lexington Republican for her endorsement, though the pair have stayed in touch during the campaign. Haley also communicates with other presidential hopefuls — former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has given her advice on education issues, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former Republican Governors Association chairman.
Rubio, who met first Haley in 2010, has been running third in S.C. polls, far back from New York billionaire developer Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Bush is close to Rubio in fourth, while Christie is a distant sixth.
Rubio said he met Haley in 2010 when he first was running for the Senate and she first was running for governor. “We’d love to have her endorsement, but I’m not sure that she’ll even be endorsing,” he said.
Haley has not set a deadline for issuing an endorsement, though she is expected to do so after the New Hampshire primary.
Rubio finished third in Iowa, trailing Trump by only 1 percentage point.
Cruz, a social conservative, won Iowa by dominating in counties with heavier evangelical turnout.
Rubio won five of Iowa’s 99 counties. He did not take any of the counties won by both social conservatives Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, when they won Iowa in 2008 and 2012, respectively.
Rubio said he can appeal to evangelicals, who make up 60 percent of S.C. GOP voters. But a turning point in the overall perception of his campaign might have come Monday night when Rubio won among Iowa voters who cared most about electability and those who chose a candidate on caucus day, according to New York Times polling.
Rubio has been criticized for running a “stealth” campaign in South Carolina. But, like he did in Iowa, the senator expects to close fast in the Palmetto State’s Feb. 20 primary.
“I’ve seen these things move very quickly in the past, and I knew this is a very fluid electorate and very unusual year,” Rubio said.
Having Terry Sullivan, an S.C. political veteran, run Rubio’s campaign is an advantage in the Palmetto State, which holds the South’s first primary.
But Rubio said he is familiar with South Carolina, too. He has vacationed in Charleston, and his family has stayed over in the state on its way to Washington from their home in Miami. "The halfway point, where we stop, would be in South Carolina," he said.
This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Exclusive: Rubio eyes SC surprise in GOP primary."