Ted Cruz stopping in Iowa on Thursday to support Chuck Grassley’s Senate re-election bid

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz will stop in Iowa on Thursday, on a 2022 mission that’s also sure to spark more speculation about a potential 2024 White House run.

The two-term Republican senator from Texas will headline a fundraiser for longtime GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who’s running for re-election in November’s midterms. Word of the event, which will be held in the northern Iowa city of Clear Lake, was shared first with Fox News on Tuesday.

"My friend and colleague Chuck Grassley is a champion for Iowa and the American people. Chuck understands the importance of securing the southern border and I’m proud to fight with him every day to hold the corrupt and deeply politicized Biden administration accountable on the Judiciary Committee," Cruz said in a statement.

Grassley told Fox News, "Texas is ground zero for the border crisis. Last year, I joined Sen. Ted Cruz in the Rio Grande Valley and heard from border patrol agents how the Biden administration’s policies are enabling the drug cartel and human smuggling rings to infiltrate our southern border. Fentanyl is pouring into the interior United States, including communities in Iowa where we’ve experienced historic overdose deaths in our state." 

CRUZ TO FOX NEWS: ‘MY FOCUS IS ON 2022’

"Sen. Cruz and I are working to hold the Biden administration accountable, secure the border and rein in Big Tech," Grassley said. 

And, he argued, "It's imperative Republicans take back the Senate majority this fall so we can get America back on the right track." 

Grassley, who was first elected to the Senate in 1980 and who turns 89 next month, is facing a Democratic challenge from Michael Franken, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former aide to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. This is Franken’s second straight run for the Senate in Iowa, following an unsuccessful bid for the 2020 Democratic Senate nomination.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2022 MIDTERMS POWER RANKINGS

The latest Fox News Power Rankings rate the Senate race in Iowa as "solid R," as do most of the other leading nonpartisan political handicappers.

Cruz has been crisscrossing the campaign trail this year on behalf of fellow Republicans running for office.

"My focus is on 2022. I'm spending practically every waking moment on the campaign trail, focusing on retaking the House and retaking the Senate," Cruz told Fox News Digital earlier this month when he was interviewed at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas.

And, the senator predicted, "I think we're gonna win both. I think we're gonna see a Republican majority in the House. I think we're gonna see a Republican majority in the Senate. And I hope and believe we're going to see not just majorities, but strong new conservative leaders who are willing to stand and fight and deliver on their promises."

WHAT TED CRUZ TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT A POSSIBLE 2024 WHITE HOUSE RUN

But the stop in Iowa, the state that for a half century has kicked off the presidential nominating calendar, will fuel further speculation that Cruz is moving toward launching another run for the GOP presidential nomination

Cruz, who was runner-up to former President Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential nomination battle, has consistently not ruled out making another White House run. He’s stopped a handful of times over the past year in the early voting states in the GOP presidential nominating calendar — with more likely to come in the months ahead. He was in Nevada – which votes fourth in the GOP primary and caucus schedule - on Saturday, speaking in support of former state attorney general Adam Laxalt, the 2022 Senate nominee in the battleground state.

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And Cruz has told Fox News and other news organizations that he’s not ruling out another presidential bid, emphasizing that "when I ran in ’16, it was the most fun I’ve had in my life."

And earlier this month, the senator dropped another 2024 hint to Fox News, reiterating, "I am committed to fighting to save this country with every breath in my body. It is what I believe in."