Will Iowa retain first-in-nation in 2020?

DES MOINES — Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann expressed confidence Monday that Iowa could withstand new challenges to keep its political caucuses the kickoff event of the presidential selection process in 2020.

Over the weekend, Tom Mechler, chairman of the Texas Republican Party, said he has decided to withdraw a proposal to end the early voting carve-out in national GOP rules for Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada in 2020.

Mechler said he will withdraw the plan at the upcoming winter meeting of the Republican National Committee in Charleston, S.C.

While Iowa appears to have dodged another attempt to supplant its lead-off position in the presidential selection process, Kaufmann said it won't be the last.

He expects a new discussion to take place at the GOP National Convention in Ohio next summer.

'A lot of the states want what we have,' he said.