JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An anti-Donald Trump conservative confab is staging a private weekend event that will rival the Conservative Political Action Conference happening at the same time near Washington, where the former president is expected to deliver the final speech Saturday.
The Club for Growth, an anti-tax advocacy group, will hold its annual retreat for donors at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, from Thursday to Saturday, and the list of attendees includes more potential 2024 GOP hopefuls than the CPAC roster.
Mr. Trump was not invited to the Palm Beach event.
The Breakers is located about 3 miles from Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Mr. Trump will be at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland, on the outskirts of the nation’s capital, where he’ll headline CPAC and is poised to win the event’s straw poll measuring the popularity of potential and declared 2024 GOP presidential candidates.
His main 2024 Republican rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be at the Club for Growth donor retreat and is expected to skip CPAC, although his spokeswoman declined to confirm all of his upcoming events.
Mr. DeSantis has not officially entered the 2024 primary but soft-launched a presidential bid this week with a new memoir and campaign-style video touting his accomplishments as Florida’s 46th governor. He’ll headline dinners in Harris County, Texas, and the Reagan Library in California this week.
Mr. DeSantis has become a favorite of GOP mega-donors who see him as a preferred and viable alternative to the former president.
The Club for Growth, which once backed Mr. Trump, is now looking for a new Republican candidate to support in the 2024 race.
On the eve of Mr. Trump’s November launch of his 2024 presidential campaign, the organization published polling numbers that showed Mr. DeSantis leading Mr. Trump by 11 points in Iowa and 15 points in New Hampshire. The two states will be the first to cast votes in the Republican primary. The same survey found Mr. DeSantis 26 points ahead of Mr. Trump in Florida among likely primary voters.
But Mr. Trump remains the party’s definitive 2024 front-runner, according to most polls. He commands as much as 36% of the GOP vote.
Most of the GOP candidates who hope to defeat him will be wooing donors in Palm Beach.
The list of attendees at the Palm Beach event includes former Vice President Mike Pence, who has not attended a CPAC conference in years. Mr. Pence, like Mr. DeSantis, is contemplating a 2024 presidential run.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and biotech tycoon Vivek Ramaswamy, who each announced 2024 presidential bids in February, plan to attend both CPAC and Club for Growth events.
Other Republicans lurking on the sidelines of a 2024 campaign will attend the donor retreat in Palm Beach.
The list includes Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas, Rick Scott of Florida and Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire.
Mr. Cruz and Mr. Scott will also attend CPAC.
The CPAC event is open to the media and those who purchase tickets. The confab features workshops and speeches by influential conservatives.
In addition to Mr. Trump, Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Wesley Hunt of Texas and former Rep. Lee Zeldin will speak to the CPAC crowd.
Kari Lake, the Republican candidate defeated in her bid for Arizona governor, will deliver the keynote address at CPAC’s Reagan Library dinner.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.