The Hill News

The Iowa Republican Party scheduled a second debate for GOP presidential candidates two days before the influential Ames Straw Poll this summer.

The Iowa GOP said it will co-host a debate with Fox News set for Aug. 11 as a precursor to the Ames Straw Poll, an early indicator of voters' preferences among candidates before the Feb. 6 Iowa caucuses.

"Iowa is once again taking center stage as Republican voters embrace their responsibility of starting the nomination process, and I am proud to bring an historic piece of that process to Siouxland,” state GOP Chairman Matt Strawn said in a statement. “No longer will Republicans in Northwest Iowa have to settle for watching high-profile caucus debates hosted hundreds of miles away, they will be active participants in the process.”

While a number of possible Republican presidential candidates have been reluctant to formally declare their candidacies so far, by August, the 2012 field should l! argely be settled on the GOP side. Moreover, participation in the debate could send signals about which candidates intend to participate in the Iowa caucuses.

The debate is the second announced by the Iowa GOP. The other debate is scheduled for shortly before the actual caucuses, the first-in-the-nation nominating contest in the 2012 cycle.