South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is leaving Congress to head the conservative Heritage Foundation.

The Tea Party-backed senator announced the move Thursday, saying he will step down from the Senate in January to become president of The Heritage Foundation think tank.

"I'm leaving the Senate now, but I'm not leaving the fight. I've decided to join The Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas," he said in a statement. "No organization is better equipped to lead this fight and I believe my experience in public office as well as in the private sector as a business owner will help Heritage become even more effective in the years to come."

DeMint has been an outspoken voice in the Senate for its most conservative wing, most recently chiding House Republican leaders for offering to put revenue on the table as part of negotiations over the looming fiscal crisis...

One day after a legislative panel approved a measure to stop abortion funding in its statewide Obamacare health care exchange, pro-life legislators in the state House approved a bill helping to stop abortion-infanticides.

The South Carolina Senate has already approved the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act to protect unborn children who are born alive after a failed abortion but may be purposefully left to die afterwards.

The legislation defines an infant born alive as a person even if the baby survives an abortion attempt and makes it so babies who are born alive under any circumstances cannot be treated as medical waste, or deliberately killed because they are unwanted...

Lincoln, Neb. – Seven states filed a lawsuit Thursday to block the federal government's requirement that religious organizations offer health insurance coverage that includes free access to contraception for women.

The attorney generals of Texas, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina jointly filed the lawsuit in a Nebraska US District Court.

Two private citizens, two religious non-profit organizations and a Catholic school also joined the lawsuit against the contraception mandate, which is part of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care law.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare the law unconstitutional and enjoin the government from enforcing the requirement...

The 68-year-old former speaker of the House, twice left as presidential road kill this cycle, won the South Carolina Republican primary in more commanding fashion than either of the two prior GOP nominees.

He doesn't look, talk or act like any major party nominee since the dawn of the television era: too big, too bombastic, too old, too much baggage, too little discipline on the trail. But yet he outperformed George W. Bush, who was none of those things, in South Carolina, a state that has voted quite cautiously since it became "first in the South" in 1980.

So what gives?

There are two ways to win elections. The simplest is to find a way to win the support of the electorate as it exists. But when that's not possible, a candidate must find a way to change the electorate.

That's what Gingrich did on Saturday...

The Republican presidential candidates sparred over the issue of abortion in tonight’s GOP presidential debate. Below, LifeNews is bringing you the unfiltered debate transcript showing that exchange.

Ultimately, each Republican presidential candidate could be called into question for criticism over the pro-life views.

Romney could be said to be not authentic on his pro-life conversion because he supported abortion before that and some say the conversion was political. Santorum has faced questions for endorsing pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter, his Pennsylvania college when he served in the U.S. Senate.

Gingrich has faced criticism for not sufficiently believing life begins at conception or fertilization and for not pressing pro-life issues as much as he could have in Congress.

Newt Gingrich, rising in the polls, may have captured momentum by not only slamming the door on questions about his personal life, but reminding his rivals -- and voters -- that he's battling to the end to win the hearts and minds of America's conservatives.

The former House speaker, ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary, used the debate stage Thursday night to position himself as the chief challenger to Mitt Romney. Though he faced tough questions over his leadership style and past support of a controversial health insurance mandate, it was his opening response to a question about salacious allegations made by his second ex-wife that set the tone for the night and left no doubt that Gingrich would take on all-comers.

“I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that,” Gingrich told the moderator.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Rick Santorum received 34 votes more than Mitt Romney in the leadoff Iowa caucuses, state Republican officials reported Thursday, after initially claiming Romney was ahead by eight votes.

Party officials were reluctant to declare an official winner, since the results from eight precincts are still missing and any of those could hold an advantage for Romney.

But Santorum's campaign declared victory in a statement Thursday morning, suggesting the surprise ending to the historically close Iowa caucuses has helped undercut the aura of "inevitability" around Romney.

"We've had two early state contests with two winners," Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley said. "Conservatives can now see and believe they don't have to settle for Romney, the Establishment's moderate candidate. ...

Another chance to make a first impression?

Fresh off a rousing debate performance that had the Republican audience giving a standing ovation -- purportedly the first in a debate since Ronald Reagan in New Hampshire in 1980 -- Newt Gingrich may be reconsidering how far he can go in the GOP campaign.

Holding a distant second place in several polls, Gingrich said Tuesday that he could stick it out past South Carolina if he performs well enough against front-runner Mitt Romney.

"If (Romney is) at 25 or 30 (percent), we're still in a serious race," Gingrich told CBS' "This Morning." "If he gets up to 40 or 45, you have to be realistic."

The former speaker told Fox News on Tuesday he thinks debate prowess will be a "big factor" in Saturday's election, as primary voters look for somebody who can defeat President Obama on the debate stage.

Two new polls today show a close race in South Carolina, the location of the third Republican presidential battleground in the race to replace pro-abortion President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney holds a solid lead in Florida.

With Iowa and New Hampshire having given the former Massachusetts governor victories in the two traditional early primary election states, Romney now holds a slim two-point lead over Newt Gingrich in South Carolina, according to a new survey from the Insider Advantage polling firm. Conducted for the Augusta Chronicle and The Savannah Morning News newspaper, Romney has 23 percent support, and Gingrich has 21 percent.

After the former Speaker, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has 14 percent, Texas Rep. Ron Paul has 13 percent, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has 7 percent, and Texas Gov.

The explosive issue of immigration is poised to creep back into the Republican primary battle as the candidates prepare to barnstorm South Carolina, one of a handful of states being sued by the federal government for their illegal immigration crackdowns.

While the issue played second fiddle to concerns like jobs and foreign policy in the prior two contests, voters in South Carolina are likely more attuned, given the high-profile lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department.

"That's very much an important issue in South Carolina," said Van Hipp Jr., former chairman of the South Carolina GOP and current chairman of the advocacy group Americans for Securing the Border.

Mitt Romney is charging into the state with arguably the most aggressive message, praising the state's immigration law while trumpeting his own bona fides on the issue.