[ad_1]
WASHINGTON. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will travel to Texas next month to be the guest of honor at a reception and dinner hosted by a billionaire Republican political donor as rumors spread about the nation’s political ambitions of the limited-term governor.
On the same trip in April, Youngkin will speak at the George W. Bush Presidential Library as part of an event billed as “The Leadership Forum: Meeting the Challenge.” Such events often provide potential candidates with an opportunity to present their policy vision to potential donors.
According to a copy of the invitation obtained by NBC News, Junkin will also be hosted by GOP mega-donor Robert Rowling, owner of the Omni hotel chain, and his wife Terry during his stay in Texas. Forbes estimates Rowling’s net worth at $5.5 billion.
This dinner was first reported by The Washington Post.
The trip to Texas comes as Youngkin, whose term is limited by Virginia law, is building his national profile as he weighs the possibility of running for president in 2024. In the 2022 midterms, he campaigned for Republican candidates in key states including Georgia and Arizona. Last week, he took part in a nationally televised CNN event on education, a key theme of his 2021 gubernatorial campaign.
In January, Youngkin told NBC News that he was “extremely humbled” by talk of the presidential campaign but remained focused on Virginia. That remains, according to a source familiar with Youngkin’s views on the matter, but who also noted that in 2016’s last open GOP primary, candidates were announced well in advance of the summer, and that candidates who entered the race early because Jeb Bush and Scott Walker quickly stopped arguing.
Youngkin barely registered in the polls in early 2024, but his statewide magenta win and his ability to self-fund a national campaign could leave him a lane in a potentially crowded GOP field.
A trip to Dallas could further open up Texas’ fertile ground for GOP fundraising for Youngkin, especially since no Texas candidate is currently expected to enter the race.
Rowling alone has been a vocal supporter of the Republican campaigns in the 2022 midterm elections, donating half a million dollars to the GOP’s House supercomputer and a quarter of a million to a McConnell-backed Senate leadership fund.
[ad_2]
