DeSantis becomes first major party candidate to enter South Carolina’s 2024 presidential primary

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis filed paperwork on Tuesday for South Carolina’s Republican primary, becoming the first major party presidential candidate officially on the ballot for the first-in-the-South contest.

DeSantis signed his filing documents during a stop at the South Carolina Republican Party headquarters in Columbia, flanked by supporters including state legislators who have endorsed his bid.

The filing comes at a consequential moment for DeSantis and his campaign as the governor makes his third swing through South Carolina as a White House hopeful. He entered the race in May with expectations that he would become the primary threat to former President Donald Trump. But DeSantis has struggled to make inroads against Trump, who holds a commanding lead in the primary, and recently began cutting campaign staff.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he rejected suggestions that his campaign might have grown too big in its early stages.

“At the end of the day, when you when you start there are certain investments that you make,” he said. “We really believe having an important apparatus on the ground is important in caucus states and early states.”

DeSantis opened his swing through South Carolina on Monday, holding an event in Tega Cay, an affluent community on Lake Wylie along the state line with North Carolina.

After about a half hour of remarks, in which he hit on the high points of his stump speech, DeSantis also took a handful of questions from the crowd of about 900 gathered to hear him. Questioners included a woman who described herself a “hardcore Trump supporter” who said the 2024 election represented “the most important vote that we’re going to have” and that she felt DeSantis “did an excellent job” making the case for his candidacy.

In his response, DeSantis…