Kirsten Gillibrand Is Planning Her First Trip As A Candidate To South Carolina

Gillibrand will visit the Palmetto State for several days during Black History Month.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will visit South Carolina in the middle of next month, her campaign told BuzzFeed News.

The news comes after Gillibrand’s first trip as a presidential candidate to Iowa, during which the New York senator introduced a T-shirt design that won’t soon go away: Her name with the ‘I’ and ‘A’ highlighted in a separate color.

It’s not clear what Gillibrand’s plans are for South Carolina, but allies are already laying the groundwork for her to meet with key stakeholders.

Gillibrand is just the latest candidate to indicate plans to invest early in South Carolina, one of the first primary states next year. Likely candidates Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders both were in South Carolina Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Elizabeth Warren will make her first trip to South Carolina as a candidate this week, where she’s expected to speak in Columbia; Kamala Harris, who announced she is running for president on Monday, is slated to appear at an event in South Carolina on Friday.

In Iowa, Gillibrand talked up her rural, small-town roots growing up in Albany, and raising a family in Troy, which was the backdrop of her more formal presidential announcement after her appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Her challenge in South Carolina, though, will be different. Democratic strategists believe her passion, as well as a penchant for reaching black voters and a clear analysis of racial inequality that she’s been making a lot lately, is certain to help.

The trip, significantly, will come during Black History Month.

“Senator Gillibrand is looking forward to a trip to South Carolina in the second week of February to meet voters and local leaders, and we will release more details in the near future,” a Gillibrand spokesperson said in an email to BuzzFeed News.

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