Gov. Bobby Jindal is headed back to Iowa this week for a few public appearances in the early presidential contest state, as well as a few closed-door meetings with local religious leaders.
The Des Moines Register reports that Jindal—who has said for months now that he’ll announce his decision on a potential 2016 presidential run shortly after the new year—is set to attend the Polk County Republicans’ Holiday Party at the West Des Moines Marriott Hotel on Tuesday.
Also on that day, the paper reports that Jindal is scheduled to meet politically active pastors in closed-door meetings in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. The newspaper notes that candidates in previous Iowa caucus cycles have used such meetings to introduce themselves to influential conservatives and gauge their prospects for a full-blown presidential campaign.
“The private lunch in Cedar Rapids and off-the-record dinner in Des Moines will allow pastors from conservative congregations to quiz the potential presidential candidate and sound out his views without the press and public present,” the newspaper reports. “The socially conservative American Renewal Project is sponsoring the get-togethers. It has held similar events in recent years with Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, including Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Mike Huckabee.”
Jindal was in Iowa last month for a Polk County GOP fundraiser, and made several appearances during the 2014 campaign. In August, he attended another invitation-only event sponsored by the American Renewal Project in Iowa, underscoring his courting of Christian conservatives.
While Jindal will get face time with influential conservative Iowans on Tuesday, he’ll miss out on the largest event of the nascent caucus season: the Iowa Freedom Summit planned for Jan. 24. The Des Moines conclave—sponsored by U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa—is expected to draw hundreds of Iowa activists and will feature eight GOP leaders who have been mentioned as presidential possibilities among many other conservative figures. Jindal won’t be able to attend because he has organized his own prayer rally event on the LSU campus on that day.
