Politics

Iowa politicos expect Michele Bachmann presidential announcement during May visit

Amanda Carey Contributor
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Iowa politicos tell The Daily Caller they expect Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann to announce her campaign for the White House at a Polk County GOP fundraiser the Tea Party star is headlining in Des Moines on May 26.

“My sense is she’s going to run,” Dave Funk, co-chair of the Polk County GOP in Iowa, told TheDC. Funk is organizing the fundraiser that will host Bachmann, and confirmed to TheDC that the congresswoman will be in Iowa for five days after the event.

Craig Robinson of the IowaRepublican told TheDC that he also has been hearing talk of an official announcement at the fundraiser. “People that are close to her would like to see her make a more formal step,” Robinson said.

In recent months, Bachmann has met with Iowa Republican Governor Terry Branstad at least twice. She has also made Iowa appearances on several occasions and even has two Iowans lined up to spearhead a campaign.

One of them — state Sen. Kent Sorenson — will likely be political director in Iowa for the Bachmann campaign. “I am encouraging her to [run],” Sorenson told TheDC. He went on to say that he has recommended to the congresswoman that she announce at the May 26 fundraiser.

Wes Enos, Mike Huckabee’s Iowa director in 2008, has also signed on to work for Bachmann’s political action committee.

“There’s no commitment,” said Sorenson, “but I haven’t gotten refusals either.” He also pointed out that Bachmann has already made it clear she will make an announcement by June. “And May 26 is only week away,” he said.

But rumors of an announcement have swirled before. In March, observers speculated that Bachmann would make an announcement prior to the first debate in Greenville, S.C. That, of course, never happened.

Though she still currently comes in below five percent in most national polls, Bachmann is a Tea Party figure whose particular brand of populism has attracted a respectable following.

“Discussions are happening,” Sorenson told TheDC. “And I believe it’s going to happen sooner rather than later.”