The Hill News

One of Iowa's statewide Republican figures assailed former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman (R) on Monday for electing against competing in the state's 2012 caucuses.

Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz said that Huntsman "is not ready for the big dance" if he pursues a strategy that involves skipping Iowa, which hosts the first nominating contests of the cycle.

"If Mr. Huntsman refuses to compete in a bellwether state like Iowa, he is not ready for the big dance," Schultz said on the conservative blog RedState. "After all, our last two presidents won the Iowa Caucus before they went to the White House."

Huntsman told the Associated Press last week that it's likely that he'll eschew participation in the caucuses, in no small part due to his opposition to subsidies for ethanol, a major source of revenue for the state's corn farmers.

"I'm not competing in Iowa for a reason," he said.

Schultz dismissed Huntsman's rationale for skipping Iowa as a canard, pointing to other candidates' opposition to ethanol subsidies like Rep. Steve King, the state's conservative congressman, or former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who hunted in his announcement speech in Iowa that he'd oppose the subsidies.

But he also launched an attack on Huntsman on environmental and fiscal issues, and Schultz, a fellow Mormon, accused Huntsman of distancing himself from their shared faith.

"It is apparent that Mr. Huntsman is in need of a lesson in Iowa politics. ! Iowa is a bellwether state. We care about our families, our fa! ith and our freedom. We are not single-issue voters," Schultz wrote. "We just want to know how presidential candidates are going to make our country better. Hopefully Mr. Huntsman will change his mind and come to Iowa and explain how he plans on fixing the problems facing our country."

It's long been thought that Huntsman would skip Iowa. He's edging closer to formally entering the race for the Republican nomination, during which he's likely to focus more on New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary and the subsequent contest in South Carolina. Huntsman's likely to address the strategy in a sit-down interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity this evening.

Updated 12:03 p.m.