CNN

Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani are leading among South Carolina Republicans, according to recent polls.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) – With just under four months to go until the Republican primary here, former Sen. Fred Thompson's South Carolina campaign team is just about in place.

On Tuesday, the campaign announced the endorsements of 12 Republican state legislators, as well as the official endorsement of Rep. Gresham Barrett, who represents the 3rd District of South Carolina. Barrett has been one of Thompson's most vocal supporters in the state for months, and he introduced the former Senator at Thompson's first two official campaign stops in South Carolina in early September.

Barrett's chief of staff on Capitol Hill, Lance Williams, recently left Barrett's office to become Thompson's South Carolina operations director. Dean Rice, who has worked with Thompson going back to his red pickup truck days and helped organize the "Draft Fred" movement online, is Thompson's South Carolina campaign manager. Experienced political hand Walter Whetsell is also on board as the campaign's in-state consultant.

– CNN South Carolina Producer Peter Hamby