Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will continue to stay neutral in the crowded Republican presidential primary, though she may ultimately decide to endorse a candidate later on.
Republican presidential hopefuls have flocked to Iowa to woo voters ahead of the crucial Iowa caucuses early next year. Reynolds has appeared with a number of candidates in the field, though she has faced criticism from the front-runner, former President Donald Trump.
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“I’m remaining neutral, but I don’t just want to rule it out down the road. I think it’s really important right now to encourage candidates to come to Iowa,” the Republican governor said on Fox News Sunday.
Reynolds’s comments are in line with her previous sentiments.
“Maybe down the road, we’ll do something different,” Reynolds told CNN last week. “But right now, it’s really important that [the candidates] feel like they have a fair shot, and they’re welcome here in Iowa, and I want Iowans to have the chance to interact with them.”
The Iowa GOP caucuses, currently set for Jan. 15, 2024, are the first in the nation for the GOP and will kick off the GOP primary calendar.
The relationship between Trump and Reynolds has been strained in recent months after the former president rebuked her neutrality in the Republican primaries. Reynolds has said the race is far from settled and wants every candidate to feel welcomed in Iowa, while Trump has grumbled over her relationship with fellow candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
As of now, there are eight candidates who are eligible for Wednesday’s first GOP primary debate, Trump has indicated he will not attend. They are: DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, while former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) hit the thresholds to qualify after struggling initially.
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Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson claimed on Sunday he qualified, though a person familiar with the verification process told the Washington Examiner, “The RNC has not verified his donors yet.”
Similarly, fellow long-shot candidate Perry Johnson claimed that he also qualified for the debate, which the RNC has not yet confirmed, while Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced he met the requirements for the first primary debate, but within hours, the RNC said he hadn’t yet qualified.
