Pawlenty to be featured at Michigan GOP event

Lansing, Mich. (AP) — A second potential 2012 presidential candidate will attend a major Republican conference this month in Michigan.

The Michigan GOP said Wednesday that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty plans to attend the Sept. 25-27 Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island.

GOP 2008 presidential candidate Mitt Romney also will be there.

The biennial gathering is seen as a tuneup for potential 2012 candidates, as well as Republicans running in 2010 statewide races.

Pawlenty, who's vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association, announced in June he wouldn't seek a third term.

Since then, his appearances at GOP gatherings nationwide has stoked speculation of a 2012 run for president.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)