The national rules committee of the Republican Party is recommending that South Carolina continue to be the site of the first Republican presidential primary conducted in the South, at least in 2012.

That means Anderson County residents will continue to see presidential candidates visit the area, said Lee Rogers, chair of the Anderson County Republican Party.

“What I think it means is that we will have a better chance of seeing and making contact with presidential candidates in the future,” he said. “South Carolina is a conservative state, but a state that is representative of the country in general. … If they want to win over conservative voters, they come here. It sort of locks them in position.”

The Upstate, Mr. Rogers said, is one of the more conservative areas of a fairly conservative state.

“When you’ve got a conservative stronghold and these candidates want those votes, they need to come to this area,” he said.

Since October 2007, every major Republican presidential candidate has visited the Upstate except former New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani.

Since 1980, no candidate has won the Republican presidential nomination without winning South Carolina’s Republican primary.

State party communications director Rob Godfrey said the party’s national rules committee met in New Mexico as part of the annual Republican state chairpersons’ meeting. The rules committee is recommending that Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada conduct primaries in the same order in 2012 as in 2008. It’s also recommending that Iowa’s caucuses take place no sooner than Feb. 1, almost a month later than this year.

Mr. Godfrey says the decision is expected to be ratified at the party’s national convention this summer.

“We are proud to take our place alongside the most important presidential primary contests in the country,” said South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson, according to a news release. “Sen. John McCain won a monumental victory in our primary this year and was propelled to our party’s (presumptive) nomination for president. We are pleased we will continue to play this make-or-break role in presidential politics for years to come.”

The AP contributed to this story.