A quintet of Republican candidates for president will make remarks later this week at the Ronald Reagan Dinner in Des Moines, IA.
The dinner, tickets to which are available for $75 apiece, is an annual fundraising event hosted by the Iowa Republican Party. As MSNBC reported last week, over 1,000 people attended last year’s dinner to watch Sarah Palin speak.
The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses will take place just a little over two months from now, on January 3.
The confirmed list of speakers on Friday includes Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Texas Governor Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).
Absent from the list is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who has not run an aggressive campaign in the Hawkeye State.
Businessman Herman Cain, who is in hot water this week over reports that he was accused of sexually harassing two women who worked under him when he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990’s, will reportedly attend the event. According to the Iowa GOP, however, Cain has not yet been confirmed to speak.
A poll released last week by the Des Moines Register showed Cain leading the rest of the field at 23 percent. Romney finished a close second, with 22 percent.