Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) sparked presidential speculation when he held a lunch Tuesday with supporters.

Christian Heinze, of The Hill's GOP '12, has the details, including clues from the past that hint to a Pataki bid.

A Pataki spokesperson told The New York Post that the lunch "was not a fundraiser. He got together with some friends and supporters ... They did talk about politics, they talked about the future."

And when asked about a 2012 run, the spokesperson said: "He's going to look at the field and look at what he's got going on, and make a decision based on those facts. He certainly hasn't ruled it out."

CNN will hold a presidential primary debate in Las Vegas later this year, the network announced Wednesday.

CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference (WRLC) have teamed up for the event, which will be held Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011, at the Venetian Resort Hotel in Las Vegas.

Nevada is an important early primary state in the nominating process.

"Republicans in Western States will play an important role in determining the next Republican nominee for president," said former Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.), chairman of the Western Republican Leadership Conference, in a release. "On behalf of the Western Republican Leadership Conference, I am excited to be working with CNN on this important debate. I look forward to hosting our 2012 Presidential candidates, and showcasing their ideas on Western and national issues."

The WRLC is made up of GOP leaders from 16 states and territories in the western region of the country.

The Western Region includes: Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

CNN is also hosting a debate Tuesday, June 7, in New Hampshire and Monday, Sept. 12, in Tampa, Fla.

Other debates include a May 5 debate in Greenville, S.C., sponsored by Fox News.

The Reagan Library had planned a May debate but shifted it to September due to the fact that few contenders have officially entered the presidential race.

He says Sarah Palin will be competitive but notes he doesn't know her 2012 plans.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee plans to keep up its attacks on GOP Senate candidates on Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) 2012 budget proposal.

The committee is blasting Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who's running for retiring Sen. John Ensign's (R-Nev.) seat, for giving "bear hugs" to the plan.

After Ryan released his plan Tuesday, Democrats hammered the proposed budget. Party leaders said it amounts to a plan to eliminate Medicare, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called it a "path to poverty." 

The DSCC plans to hit Brown and Heller for offering praise for the Ryan plan, while again calling on Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) to take a position on the budget proposal.

The committee will also go after two of the GOP's most highly touted Senate recruits on the budget — Reps. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Denny Rehberg (Mont.).

Rehberg told reporters Tuesday he hasn't yet had the opportunity to fully digest the Ryan plan and that he wouldn't react to it until he's had time to read it in full.

"Scott Brown, Dean Heller and other Republicans running for U.S. Senate will be forced to explain why they want to protect oil companies and hand more tax giveaways to the ultra rich, but do away with Medicare and slash funds for nursing homes," DSCC spokesman Matt Canter said in a statement. "Democrats are committed to fiscal discipline, but Republicans have the wrong priorities and it will cost them in 2012."

The DSCC's attacks are just part of a much larger Democratic offensive on Ryan's budget proposal, which shows no signs of relenting in the near future.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney enjoy an early advantage among likely Iowa caucus-goers, a poll of Iowa Republicans found Wednesday.

Huckabee would win the Iowa caucuses and Romney would place second, if caucuses including all the potential Republican presidential candidates in the contest were held today, according to a Neighborhood Research survey released Wednesday.

Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), meanwhile, would have an edge in a narrower field of candidates, the poll found.

Twenty-one percent of likely caucus-goers said they would prefer Huckabee, followed by 14 percent for Romney, 9 percent for real estate mogul Donald Trump, 8 percent for Gingrich and 7 percent for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the poll found.

Twelve other candidates registered at 5 percent or below, and 24 percent of respondents were undecided in the first ballot test, which included every possible candidate.

But not all those candidates might run. Huckabee has flirted with a bid, but a number of indicators and quite a bit of insider speculation has suggested he ultimately might not run. Trump's and Palin's intentions are also an enigma.

In a second ballot test, excluding all three of those candidates, Romney was the benefactor.

Twenty-one percent would support Romney in the winnowed-down field, followed by 12 percent for Gingrich, 7 percent for Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and 6 percent for former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Forty-one percent of voters in that scenario would be undecided.

The poll, conducted March 29-April 4, has a 5.5 percent margin of error.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who's weighing a run for president in 2012, will share a stage later this month with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), whose endorsement will be one of the most coveted in next year's GOP primary.

Bachmann is set to speak at a rally organized by the Columbia Tea Party on April 18, capping a swing through the state slated to begin on April 15, her camp confirmed. Haley is among the rally's headliners and has already declared her intention to endorse a candidate before the state's GOP primary next year.

Bachmann has made trips to the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire in recent weeks and is expected to form a presidential exploratory committee by early summer. 

During Haley's 2010 race for governor, she was endorsed by a litany of rumored presidential hopefuls, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

In the 2008 presidential race, Haley was a Romney backer. 

State lawmakers in Iowa are leaning toward supporting a plan to redraw the state's congressional district boundaries that would pair two sets of incumbents together ahead of 2012.

Two key legislative leaders told The Associated Press on Tuesday that state lawmakers have not raised significant objections to the proposal, with state House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D) saying he's "leaning ever so slightly toward the first map."

Iowa's nonpartisan redistricting commission proposed the new map last week, setting up the potential for two intra-party primary fights next year. Republican Reps. Steve King  and Tom Latham are drawn together in the new map, while Democratic Reps. David Loebsack and Bruce Braley could also have to fight for a single district. 

King told The Ballot Box last week that he's not making any contingency plans for 2012 until it becomes clear whether the map could actually get through the State Legislature. Ten years ago, lawmakers rejected the first map that was proposed, a possibility this time around as well.

Loebsack has already said he would likely opt to move and run in the 2nd district again, which would become an open seat under the proposed map, rather than run against Braley.

The map must be voted on by the State Legislature and either accepted or rejected — amending the map is not an option. Republican Gov. Terry Branstad also has veto power over any map that makes it through the Legislature.

Likely GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is expected run his campaign from his home state of Minnesota, according to media reports Tuesday.

The former Minnesota governor's presidential exploratory committee selected 5,000 square feet of office space in a downtown Minneapolis skyscraper, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal and The Associated Press reported.

The move is a sign that Pawlenty is taking steps to officially announce his candidacy soon. After he formed his exploratory committee, just over two weeks ago, Pawlenty said that he would likely make his bid official soon.

Pawlenty at the time of his announcement was expected to choose a campaign headquarters in Minnesota.

No potential GOP candidate has delivered sharper or more consistent attacks on his rivals than former Sen. Rick Santorum.