Meg Kinnard | Associated Press

Republicans who are seeking to lead their party in the 2024 presidential race gathered in South Carolina this weekend with a goal at the forefront of their agenda: taking on “woke ideology.”

Vice President Kamala Harris promoted the Biden administration's achievements on broadband internet access during a visit to South Carolina, recently minted as the site of Democrats' first presidential votes of the 2024 campaign.

Democrats elevated South Carolina to the top of their presidential primary calendar, leapfrogging Iowa and New Hampshire. Republicans, meanwhile, could potentially have two homegrown South Carolina presidential candidates in the race, a prospect that has already caused friction among the state’s GOP circles of supporters.

“You should know this about me. I don't put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you're wearing heels,” Haley said in the announcement video. “I'm Nikki Haley and I'm running for president.”

When she enters the race, Haley will be the first contender to join the contest against her former boss, who is currently the sole Republican seeking his party's 2024 nomination.

Former President Donald Trump will be joined by two of his highest-profile South Carolina supporters at the first public campaign event of his 2024 White House bid later this month in the early-voting state, AP reports.

The former South Carolina governor's new tone stands in stark contrast with April 2021, when she said she would not seek her party’s nomination if Trump were also running.

Republican Katie Arrington’s suspended security clearance is becoming an issue in her primary campaign against incumbent South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace. Arrington says Mace is mischaracterizing a dispute that resulted in her departure from a job at the Pentagon.

A relatively rare East Coast earthquake centered northeast of Columbia, South Carolina, has jolted large numbers of state residents awake. Authorities say the quake occurred just after 1:30 a.m. Monday and had a preliminary 3.3 magnitude.

It's unknown how long a stay will hold off the execution of South Carolina's first-ever inmate to be put to death by a firing squad as his attorneys pursue legal challenges. But the issuance of Richard Bernard Moore's death warrant has renewed interest in how a state puts in motion its plans to shoot an inmate to death.