2024 Watch: Former Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson making second trip this week to Iowa
Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is mulling a 2024 White House run, makes his third trip to Iowa in the past two months
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas is heading back to Iowa on Thursday, his second trip this week to the state that kicks off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.
Hutchinson, who is mulling a possible White House run in 2024, on Thursday will meet in the state's capital city of Des Moines with leaders in the Iowa Republican Party, Fox News has learned.
A Republican operative with knowledge of Hutchinson's plans says the former governor will congratulate the state party on their successes in November's elections, and have "substantiative conversations about issues import to the Hawkeye State like immigration and border security."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thursday's trip follows a stop in Des Moines by Hutchinson on Monday, when he addressed a GOP legislative breakfast.
Hutchinson was succeeded Tuesday as governor by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as the former White House press secretary during then-President Trump's administration and the daughter of former longtime Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was inaugurated.
Hutchinson's trips this week to Iowa follow a Nov. 16, when he addressed the Westside Conservative Club in Des Moines. He also paid two visits last year to New Hampshire, which holds the second contest in the Republican Party’s presidential nominating calendar.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HUTCHINSON SAYS DESIRE TO ‘SHAPE FUTURE’ OF THE GOP MAY LEAD TO 2024 RUN
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas sits down for an interview with Fox News on July 13, 2022 in Portland, Maine (Fox News )
His stops included an April trip to headline the "Politics and Eggs" speaking series at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, a must-stop for White House hopefuls.
Hutchinson has been mulling a 2024 White House run for months. He said in a Fox News Digital interview last summer that he wants a role in helping to shape the future of the GOP and "that might lead to a presidential campaign down the road."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WHAT ASA HUTCHINSON SAID ON FOX NEWS RADIO ABOUT 2024
In a Fox News radio interview on Sunday, Hutchinson emphasized that "the fact that I've been a consistent conservative for four decades, I think puts me in a good position to help carry that message across the country."
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and first lady Susan Hutchinson look on as their granddaughter, Jaella Wengel, left, and daughter, Sarah Wengel, center, unveil the governor’s official portrait on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hutchinson will leave office on Jan. 10 after serving eight years as governor. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
Hutchinson, who steered the National Governors Association last year, is a former federal attorney turned two-term congressman who served as Drug Enforcement Administration administrator and Department of Homeland Security undersecretary during then-President George W. Bush’s administration.
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The governor told Fox News last year that "my kind of conservatism is the same conservatism that Ronald Reagan led our country with, which is strength, which is freedom, which is less government, which is pro-life, which is pro-Second Amendment. Those are values that I have consistently led with."