Potential 2024 Republican presidential candidates travel to Austin to meet with donors

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A host of high-profile Republicans, including many potential 2024 presidential candidates, are set to visit Austin later this month for a private retreat for sponsors of the Texas voter registration effort.

The February 24 conference will feature former Vice President Mike Pence, former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and former New Jersey Governor. , Chris Christie. That’s according to an email sent last week by Karl Rove, a veteran GOP strategist who is helping raise money for a registration initiative known as the Texas Voter Engagement Project.

The email teased “two more special guests we hope to announce soon.” According to the invitation updated on Wednesday, one of them is Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.

Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Senator John Cornyn help host an event at the Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa. Cornyn is scheduled to deliver the opening speech, while Abbott plans to attend depending on what happens in the legislature’s session that began last month. The event is closed to the public.

Members of the Texas congressional delegation will also be there to interview speakers from other states.

So far, two of the biggest names associated with the 2024 primaries are not participating in the event: former President Donald Trump, who is already running, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not yet announced but has become Trump’s most formidable potential opponent. DeSantis is set to visit Texas in early March to lead Republican fundraising dinners in Harris and Dallas counties.

There was a similar retreat in May 2021 in Austin and DeSantis was on the lineup.

The voter engagement project kicked off a few years ago as Texas Republicans sought to reset their core party functions after a tough 2018 election. The project claims it has since registered nearly 400,000 new Republican voters.

The conference is designed to thank donors as well as volunteers, including members of the Texas Federation of Republican Women, who have been some of the most active helpers.

Disclosure: Karl Rove is a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, non-partisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial sponsors play no role in Tribune journalism. Find the complete list them here.