Defecting S.C. senator backs Santorum

Mt. Pleasant, SC (CNN) - Aboard the USS Yorktown Tuesday morning, South Carolina State Senator Larry Grooms made his political defection official by announcing his endorsement of Rick Santorum.

"Just a couple of day ago I was still saying Rick Perry should be President of the United States," Grooms told a crowd of reporters. "I endorsed him early and I believe he is a good man. I believe he would make a fine president, but let's face it. It's time for the conservatives of South Carolina to rally around our best choice to have a true conservative as President of the United Sates."

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Just hours before Monday's Republican presidential debate in Myrtle Beach, Grooms released a statement withdrawing his endorsement of Rick Perry and urging the Texas governor to drop out of the race. In the statement, Grooms said "it is apparent that Governor Perry cannot win and has no viable strategy in moving forward," and that by staying in the race Perry would be helping frontrunner Mitt Romney by dividing the social conservative vote.

On Tuesday, Grooms said he'd recently spoken with both Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, but ultimately chose to support Santorum because of his history of support for traditional families.

"When you look at the viable candidates that remain, we have Rick Santorum, we have Newt Gingrich, we have Ron Paul and we have Mitt Romney, and you have to consider, where are these men on all of the issues, and to me, family is absolutely essential," Grooms said, referencing their military surroundings as a testament to the sacrifice other Americans have made for the family. "To have true economic liberty, to have true economic freedom, there must be some moral restraints. We must respect the family. South Carolina, we care about families."

Grooms, who's a strong supporter of the tea party and the author of South Carolina's controversial new immigration reform legislation, had been a supporter of Perry since the Texas governor traveled to Charleston, SC to announce his candidacy. Santorum thanked Grooms for calling on his supporters to "coalesce behind a strong principled conservative."

Although Grooms introduced Santorum to the crowd of reporters gathered for the press conference, he quietly joined the former senator on stage at the town hall that followed, leaving the introduction duties to retired General Jerry Boykin. Grooms was later introduced by Santorum partway through his remarks when the candidate realized he hadn't yet mentioned his newest supporter.