Republicans are gathering in Cleveland this week to nominate Donald Trump as their candidate for president in 2016, but potential candidates are already eyeing a 2020 primary that could feature a bigger field than this past cycle's race, The New York Times reported.
"If you thought this year was an attractive race on our side, imagine 2020," Phil Cox, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association, told the Times. "You'll have 30 people running."
This past cycle saw 17 Republicans toss their hat in the ring for the primary, and a number of the losers appear to be jockeying for position in the 2020 race, including this cycle's second-place finisher Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. A pair of potential future candidates have also visited delegates from the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, the Times reported: Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
The success of the New York businessman in garnering the nomination may inspire more political outsiders to run for the presidency in the next cycle as well.
"Are there more Mark Cubans out there who say, 'Well, this is easy, and I'm not a nut, so I may even be successful'?" Republican strategist Dave Carney told the newspaper.