Ben Carson plans to concentrate more on SC than New Hampshire

Ben Carson, looking to rebound back into the top-tier of the GOP presidential race, told The State on Monday that he will look to campaign more in South Carolina than in New Hampshire, which holds the second primary after the Iowa caucus.

With his social conservative credentials, the retired Maryland neurosurgeon is polling better in South Carolina — usually fourth or fifth — than in New Hampshire, where he is the seventh or eighth choice ahead of the Feb. 9 primary.

“New Hampshire tends to be a little more liberal state, and I am not really going to resonate with liberals very well, which is OK,” Carson told The State while voters in Iowa prepared to cast the first votes of the 2016 election. “I have been there several times but not to the same degree that I have been in South Carolina or Iowa.”

He has visited South Carolina 17 times since 2013 versus nine times to New Hampshire, according to political tracker site P2016.org. No new S.C. visits are on Carson’s campaign schedule this week.

Carson was the second choice in South Carolina for much of the fall, but his polling slid after questions were raised about his preparedness to handle national security issues.

Carson is expected have a base in South Carolina where a majority of GOP voters are evangelical Christians. He said he hopes to win over more voters by being less partisan than his opponents, such as bombastic GOP front-runner Donald Trump. Carson’s quiet demeanor has been lampooned often on “Saturday Night Live.”

“There’s a false narrative that he who is loudest and jumps up and down the most is probably the one who is toughest and can take care of our problems,” said Carson, who became a renown surgeon after a poor upbringing in Detroit. “I say it’s a false narrative because what really determines toughness is what you accomplished in your life. What odds have you overcome. Have you done anything that no one’s ever done before? I’ve done that on multiple occasions.”

The top two 2016 Republican hopefuls have announced plans to visit the Palmetto State this week. South Carolina holds the GOP’s third primary on Feb. 20.

Trump will hold a rally at the Florence Civic Center on Friday. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is running second, will stump at a Piedmont high school on Tuesday, where he is expected to announce the endorsement from U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-Laurens.

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Ben Carson plans to concentrate more on SC than New Hampshire."