Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is making his way back to Georgia next week as the South becomes increasingly important in his bid for the White House.
The Republican is headed to the Cobb County International Airport at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 18 to make his case to conservatives, followed by a Dec. 19 stop at a farm near Savannah. According to the National Journal presidential candidate tracker, it will be Cruz's sixth Georgia visit this year.
The Savannah visit also marks the second time former Rep. Jack Kingston opens for the presidential candidate. He gave brief remarks before a Cruz event on the coast earlier this year.
The trip comes as part of an SEC Primary fly-around that will also take Cruz to Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma in the days following Tuesday's GOP debate in Las Vegas. In all, Cruz will hold rallies in 12 cities in one week.
Cruz staged a bus tour through SEC country this summer, as the regional bloc of votes on March 1 have long been a cornerstone of Cruz's campaign. That focus has only intensified as he has begun to rise in the polls.
Here's a recent piece in The Wall Street Journal about Cruz's strategy:
It is a region where his antigovernment, evangelical conservative message plays well, and he has quietly been building a far-reaching political organization to take advantage of that.
If it works, Mr. Cruz could become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the party's decision to hold primaries in 12 states—half in the South—on March 1. A strong showing by one candidate could provide a burst of momentum at a key moment in the race.
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