GOP presidential hopefuls Ben Carson, Jeb Bush to visit Rock Hill

Two presidential contenders are returning to Rock Hill on either side of Thanksgiving, as South Carolina’s primary calendar begins to overlap with the holiday season.

On Tuesday, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will hold a town hall at 6:15 p.m. in the Magnolia Room, 4017 Laurel Creek Drive.

A week later, retired neurosurgeon and surging candidate Ben Carson will speak in McBryde Hall on the campus of Winthrop University at 2 p.m. on Dec. 2. Doors will open at noon.

Free tickets for both events are available on the website Eventbrite.

Both appearances come as a crowded GOP field makes its final push for votes ahead of South Carolina’s crucial early presidential primary. With 14 candidates still actively competing for the nomination, South Carolina Republicans will voice their preference three months from now on Feb. 20. Democrats will follow suit a week later when they vote in a Feb. 27 presidential primary.

Polls show that both men coming to Rock Hill need to attract voters in order to make up ground on frontrunner Donald Trump. Bush was considered an early favorite, but recent polling has him in single digits, in fifth place nationally behind Trump, Carson, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Bush last appeared in Rock Hill in August, when he took part in a national security forum at Winthrop hosted by the group Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security. There, Bush took a tough line against the Islamic State terrorist group operating in Iraq and Syria – an issue pushed back into the news by the recent terror attacks in Paris for which the group claimed responsibility.

Carson has not formally campaigned in Rock Hill before but held a book-signing at the Manchester Village Books-a-Million last month, during which he defended controversial comments about Muslims to members of the media. Carson gave an interview to The Herald at the time that laid out sharply conservative views on gay marriage, immigration and guns.

Polls are putting Carson a close second to Trump in South Carolina voters’ estimation, with both men polling in the mid-20s.

Both events are open to the public, but attendees are encouraged to RSVP on each events’ web page.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 6:36 AM with the headline "GOP presidential hopefuls Ben Carson, Jeb Bush to visit Rock Hill."