COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on campaign 2016.

10:30 a.m.

Former South Carolina first lady Iris Campbell is endorsing Republican Jeb Bush for president, further cementing a long-standing relationship between the two families.

The campaign announced Friday that the wife of late South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell would be backing Bush, as she and her husband did for his father and brother.

The late governor, a conservative icon in South Carolina, helped elect both former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush to the presidency, serving as campaign co-chairman for each when they sought the White House.

Campbell also headed up Washington, D.C.-based efforts to elect Jeb Bush as Florida governor in 1998. Carroll Campbell died in 2005 after battling Alzheimer's.

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10:00 a.m.

One of Chris Christie's most high-profile fundraisers is throwing his money behind Ohio's John Kasich.

Kasich campaign chief John Weaver says Ken Langone, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot is now backing the Kasich campaign.

Langone spokeswoman Pam Goldman confirmed the decision.

Christie dropped his bid Wednesday following a disappointing sixth place finish in New Hampshire, the state in which he'd staked his candidacy. Langone did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told The Associated Press Wednesday that Donald Trump's commanding New Hampshire win was a sign that voters are sick of the status quo.

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9:45 a.m.

John Kasich's campaign is taking to the airwaves in South Carolina with two television ads displaying different sides of the Ohio governor.

In a more biographical spot, Kasich looks into the camera and talks about how his parents were killed by drunk drivers. He says the experience "transformed" him and helped him find his faith and a purpose in life. Kasich's parents were killed in 1987, when Kasich was serving in Congress.

The second ad features a narrator with a Southern accent talking about Kasich's first 100 days in office, during which he's pledged to secure the border, cut taxes and freeze regulations.

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9:20 a.m.

Jeb Bush is drawing larger than expected crowds in South Carolina.

The former Florida governor's campaign says that events Friday and Saturday are being moved to larger venues due to increased demand.

A Thursday event in Sumter was also relocated because more people than the campaign had expected requested free tickets to attend. Bush is continuing to stress is executive experience credentials during this week's campaign swing ahead of South Carolina's Feb. 20 GOP primary.

On Monday, his brother, former President George W. Bush, is expected to accompany Bush to a campaign event in North Charleston.

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8:45 a.m.

Jeb Bush is defending his decision to bring his brother, former President George W. Bush, to South Carolina to help him campaign.

Bush told ABC's Good Morning America on Friday that greeting voters with the elder Bush wasn't a sign of desperation, as Donald Trump suggested at one point. George W. Bush left the White House in January 2009 with low approval ratings.

The GOP candidate said his brother remains popular in South Carolina because of his administration's unwavering support of the military. Jeb Bush declared, "this is the beginning of the campaign" and "for my brother to speak on behalf of the skills I have to lead this country will be quite helpful."

 

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