SOUTH CAROLINA — Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s campaign schedule is on hold, according to the director of his South Carolina campaign.

That may signal that the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania is placing his run for the presidency on hold.

Santorum, who spent his youth in Butler, announced his presidential campaign on May 27, 2015, at Penn United Technologies’ plant in Jefferson Township.

Jon Parker, his South Carolina director, said Santorum planned a lengthy tour of South Carolina beginning this week ahead of the Feb. 20 primary that follows New Hampshire.

But Parker could not confirm whether Santorum is considering abandoning his bid altogether after finishing 11th out of 12 candidates in the Iowa caucus, saying only, “I’m hopeful to get the tour cranked back up soon.”

In 2012, Santorum won Iowa and finished third in South Carolina.

He spent much of his childhood in Butler while his parents worked at VA Butler Healthcare.

He was a senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007, and a U.S. representative before that.