Former President Donald Trump is increasing his courtship of important Republicans from early voting states, including a coalition at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday night.
Trump wooed a group of Nevada Republicans with steaks and ice cream, according to two unnamed sources who were at the dinner. The former president asked his guests about the political landscape of Nevada and previewed his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference over the weekend, the sources told Politico.
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Nevada is scheduled to be one of the first states to hold a primary and will hold the second primary for Democrats. South Carolina will be first. New Hampshire and Iowa were historically the first states to hold their primaries, but Democrats shook up its nominating calendar in December.
In Iowa, Trump placed full-page ads in different Republican Party publications for the past two years and recruited some allies in the state to work as his advisers. He also gave state GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann a speaking slot at a rally he held in the state last year. In New Hampshire, he hired former state party Chairman Stephen Stepanek as a senior adviser and delivered an address in front of the party.
Trump has not announced when he will campaign in Nevada but said it will be in the “coming months.” He is already scheduled to campaign in Iowa on March 13.
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The Nevada delegation included state party Chairman Mike McDonald and Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid.
Other candidates for the 2024 Republican nomination have been campaigning recently, including former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina GOP Gov. Nikki Haley, who announced her presidential bid in January. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Vice President Mike Pence are also expected to announce their bids in the coming months.
