As Trump teases a 2024 presidential run, potential GOP rivals start

Donald Trump might not be the only one with an eye on 2024.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to Iowa next week to advocate on behalf of conservatives.

The trip by Pompeo, the former congressman from Kansas who served as CIA director in the Trump administration before becoming America’s top diplomat, will be the first in-person visit by a potential 2024 GOP White House hopeful to one of the early voting states in the presidential nominating calendar.

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Pompeo, who wasn’t shy during recent Fox News interviews about teasing his possible national aspirations, appeared to fan the flames a bit more Friday, tweeting: “1,327 days.”

Pompeo’s trip includes a stop at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale on Friday morning.

Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina, who may also have national aspirations, head to Iowa next month to headline state GOP events.

Rick Scott, who’s traveling to the Hawkeye State in his role as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee — which is the reelection arm of Senate Republicans — will be in Cedar Rapids on April 1 for an event organized by the Iowa GOP.  Tim Scott will speak at another Iowa GOP gathering in Davenport on April 15.

While the conventional wisdom is that Trump’s flirtations with another White House run in 2024 could be freezing the field a bit, it appears his figurative presence is not preventing other potential nomination contenders from taking early steps.

Eight years ago, when the GOP was in the similar situation of being the party out of power in the White House, there were 42 visits by possible 2016 Republican contenders to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — the first three states to hold contests in the GOP nominating calendar. But only four of those trips came during the first four months of 2013.

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“I have probably had more interest in our regional events than I have had the previous two presidential cycles that I have been the chair,” longtime Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann told Fox News.

“I would say there’s a lot more interest here than meets the eye,” Kaufmann said, teasing that there could be plenty more visits by possible 2024 contenders to come this year. “I’m not toying with you. Stay tuned.”

An invitation from the Republican Party of Iowa for an event with Sens. Tim Scott and Joni Ernst in Davenport, Iowa on April 15, 2021

Kaufmann’s Granite State counterpart, New Hampshire Republican State Committee chair Steve Stepanek, told Fox News that “at this point, there’s people putting feelers out.”

A week after he’s in Iowa, Pompeo is set to headline a virtual fundraiser for the New Hampshire GOP. And Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, another politician on the long list of potential Republican 2024 hopefuls, spoke remotely last month at the state party’s virtual winter…