Pawlenty making campaign stops in Iowa, New Hampshire

Gov. Tim Pawlenty will make campaign appearances in Iowa on behalf of several legislative candidates later this month. He will also reportedly make several appearances in New Hampshire.

Between July 31 and Aug. 2, Pawlenty will appear at events in eastern Iowa for state House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha, state Rep. Steve Lukan of New Vienna and others. This will mark the third trip to Iowa for Pawlenty, who is considered a likely candidate for president in 2012. He spoke at a Republican Party of Iowa fundraiser in Des Moines last November and keynoted an event for Iowans for Tax Relief in April.

Last month, he formally created state-level political action committees in Iowa and New Hampshire, considered to be the first logical steps towards a presidential run. In a poll released last month by The Des Moines Register, 53 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers were “unsure” about Pawlenty.