South Carolina’s junior senator, Tim Scott, is seen as all but certain to announce his presidential candidacy on May 22 at Charleston. The Republican’s informal trips to mix with voters across the country have been met with polite interest, but there are questions as to whether he can break into the 2024 contest’s upper echelons alongside President Trump and Governor DeSantis. 

At a campaign event on Monday evening, Mr. Scott had a standing-room-only crowd at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Manchester. His message to his fellow Republicans: Show up where they don’t want to see you. 

“If you wanna be a different kind of leader, you have to go where you’re not invited,” he said when asked how he would reach Democrats, young voters, and Black voters. “You have to spend time with people who may not necessarily vote for you. It is our responsibility to go to places that are uncomfortable.”

During the hour-long town hall event, the Palmetto State’s junior U.S. senator cracked jokes about his disdain for Washington and his longing to return to a quieter life at Charleston (after his current employment ends or after a possible promotion). He presented himself as a happy warrior.

“We need to win, not just fight,” Mr. Scott said, smiling and leaning toward the assembled crowd. “Winning for me means defending those basic virtues that we have as Americans. Populism comes and goes, and we’re typically worse off afterwards. But it’s pretty fun while you’re there.”

Local political leaders who hold major sway in the important early primary state gathered to see what the 57-year-old had to say. One of Mr. Scott’s colleagues from his days in the U.S. House, Frank Guinta, a former congressman, was in attendance, along with the Hillsborough county sheriff, Chris Connelly, and several state legislators. 

Democrats have made the issue of entitlements especially salient in recent months, with President Biden getting into a near-shouting match with the entirety of the congressional Republican caucus during the State of the Union address. One New Hampshire resident, Mark Boyd, asked the senator how he would defend the benefits that seniors “have worked so hard for” over their many decades of employment.

Mr. Scott promised to “guarantee Medicare and Social Security for every single senior who is currently entitled to it, and make sure every senior coming up in the next 10 years is also covered.”

Mr. Boyd — an independent voter — told the Sun that while he is not fully sold on Mr. Scott, he was impressed by his defense of entitlement programs considering his conservative fiscal policies. “I had other candidates when you asked that question in the last election — in 2022 — they say it’s on the table,” but Mr. Scott is not that kind of politician, Mr. Boyd said after the event. 

On April 12, the senator announced he had formed a presidential exploratory committee — a kind of formality made by soon-to-be candidates who want to raise money and travel the early voting states while also building momentum toward an official campaign kick-off that brings in plenty of money and press attention. He has said he has a “major announcement” to make at Charleston on May 22. 

As the only sitting Black Republican U.S. senator, Mr. Scott understandably was asked why he is especially qualified to reach out to minority voters, especially Black men. “I don’t know if you know this,” he told the crowd, “but I am Black. The first thing I am going to do after that May 22 announcement is to hold a town hall with Black voters in Charleston, because I want them to know where I’m coming from. You go where you are not invited.”

The man who asked Mr. Scott that question, Julian Acciard, told the Sun that Mr. Scott represents something beyond the “fanboy” politics inspired by Messrs. Trump and DeSantis. “He doesn’t do what the average Republican pundit, talking head does,” Mr. Acciard, who is Black, said. “He doesn’t stand in front of a room of white conservatives to talk about Black people. He goes to Black people to talk about conservative principles of governance. That shows a level of genuineness.”

Last year, Mr. Scott was re-elected with 63 percent of the vote to what he says will be his final term in the Senate, advocating for the “citizen legislator” who returns home rather than hanging around Washington. “This is my last term in the Senate no matter what,” he told the crowd when asked about term limits. “I would like to win one more election though — more on that on May 22nd.”