The 2022 election may have just concluded, but the presidential politicking for the Iowa Republican Party’s 2024 Caucuses is well underway.
During a rally a week ago in Sioux City, former President Donald Trump said he will “very, very, very probably” run again.
“Get ready, that’s all I’m telling you,” Trump said, as the crowd cheered. “Very soon. Get ready.”
Trump easily carried Iowa as the GOP’s presidential nominee in 2016 and 2020, but Trump called for a recount after he finished second in the 2016 Iowa Caucuses. Despite that rocky period, Trump said he’s rejected calls from national GOP leaders to dethrone the caucuses from first-in-the-nation status.
“I told you that, remember, four years ago, I said: ‘I’m not going to let it happen,'” Trump said. “…I stopped it so much, it almost became a fulltime job. They do want to take it away from you, that I can say, but the Iowa Caucuses are cherished and it’s a national tradition and we are committed to keeping Iowa first for many, many years to come.”
Trump’s presence in the race may prompt other potential candidates to scuttle their presidential campaign plans. Politico is reporting Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, a frequent Iowa visitor, has decided not to run in 2024, while others have publicly said if Trump launches another bid for the White House, they won’t run against him.
The first potential GOP candidate scheduled to be in Iowa after the midterm election appears to be Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. He will speak next Wednesday to a central Iowa group that’s been host to many GOP presidential hopefuls of the past.
Iowa Democrats, meanwhile, await a decision in December from national party leaders who may move the Democratic Party’s Caucuses out of the first spot on their party’s presidential nominating calendar.