Dr. Ben Carson will be a top featured speaker at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention next month from January 17 to 19 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

Joe Dugan, founder and executive producer of the group’s fourth annual convention, told Breitbart News that Tea Partiers in South Carolina are excited to hear Dr. Carson’s message. The convention comes a little more than a year in advance of South Carolina’s 2016 Presidential primary.

Carson, raised in poverty in Detroit, Michigan, rose to prominence as one of the top neurosurgeons in the world. He recently retired from Johns Hopkins University and is rumored to be considering a run for the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination. The newly formed National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee has been calling on voters to tell Dr. Carson to “Run, Ben, Run!”

The convention will give Carson an opportunity to test his wings as a potential presidential candidate. National polls indicate that he is currently pulling in around 9% of potential Republican primary voters. While those results are not stunning, they place him firmly in the top ten of Republican Presidential contenders, no mean feat for a man who has never run for elected office before.

“We are very pleased to have Dr. Ben Carson speaking at our South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention and hope other 2016 GOP Presidential candidates will respond soon to the invitations we have sent them,” Dugan told Breitbart News.

Dugan noted the important role the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention plays in the state’s presidential primary. It is the only statewide gathering where more than 600 leaders from conservative organizations and local Tea Party groups gather in what is considered the kickoff for 2016 political organizing. Dugan added that the leaders, in addition to networking and training, get to “hear the nation’s top experts tell the truth about the crises our Constitutional Republic is facing.”

“We offer a tremendous opportunity for conservative candidates to present their values and convince the statewide Tea Party/grassroots leaders and activists who will control the ground game in the next election. These are the people that will be knocking on doors and making the phone calls in the critical 2016 South Carolina GOP Presidential primary,” Dugan said.

In 2012, Newt Gingrich’s strong speech at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention, combined with a dramatic performance at the CNN-hosted debate, helped propel him to his only significant primary victory.

Other confirmed speakers include former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), Ambassador Henry Cooper, Representative Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), Representative Tom Rice (R-SC), and Lt. Col. Bill Cowan.

Dugan noted that the speaker agenda continues to expand. The most current listing of scheduled speakers and other convention events can be found here.