FIRST ON FOX: A dozen Republican politicians who pundits view as potential or likely contenders for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination will attend the Republican Jewish Coalition’s (RJC) annual leadership meeting next month in Las Vegas.
And with the starting gun in the next White House race firing immediately after the Nov. 8 midterm elections, the RJC’s confab will be the first major cattle call of possible Republican presidential contenders.
A release from the RJC, shared first with Fox News on Thursday, lists 15 “key GOP leaders” who will address the conference, which is being held Nov. 18-19 at the Venetian Hotel Resort and Casino along the Las Vegas Strip. Some of the names were announced for the first time in the release while others had already appeared on the RJC’s website.
The 12 leaders who are considered potential or likely White House hopefuls speaking at the confab are former Vice President Mike Pence; former Secretary of State and former CIA Director Mike Pompeo; former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations; Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Rick Scott of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina; Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Larry Hogan of Maryland and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire; and former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.
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GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida addresses the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting on Nov. 6, 2021, in Las Vegas.
(Fox News )
Also addressing the conference will be House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee (who along with Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York are the only Jewish Republican members of Congress) and veteran Republican strategist and pollster Kellyanne Conway, who served as a top political adviser to former President Donald Trump.
Trump, who continues to heavily flirt with making another White House run and appears to be moving towards launching another campaign, was not listed as a speaker at the gathering.
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“We are incredibly excited to once again be welcoming key GOP leaders to the RJC Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas this November. Republican Jews from across the country will be celebrating big 2022 victories, and ringing in the first ‘kosher’ 2024 cattle call of the Presidential election cycle,” RJC national political director Sam Markstein told Fox News in a statement.
The RJC’s annual leadership meeting draws top Republican leaders, officials, donors and activists from across the country.
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas on Nov. 6, 2021.
(Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Last year’s event drew such potential 2024 contenders as Pence, Pompeo, Haley, DeSantis, Cruz (the runner-up to Trump in the 2016 GOP presidential nomination race), Rick Scott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Christie (who also ran for the 2016 GOP nomination) and Sununu. Trump didn’t attend last year’s conference, but the former president delivered a video address.
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Geography is also a selling point for the gathering as the RJC conference is held in Nevada, which in recent presidential cycles has held the fourth contest in the GOP’s presidential primary and caucus calendar.
While the speeches will be closely watched for 2024 signals, for the potential contenders, the most important aspects of these cattle calls are often the private behind-the-scenes meetings with some of the party’s top donors and rainmakers.
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This year’s RJC leadership conference is their second since the passing in January 2021 of Republican mega donor Sheldon Adelson, who for years played a key leadership role with the group and gave it generous financial support.
