(Radio Iowa) — Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s trek through western and central Iowa this weekend marks the first visit in this new year of a contender for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination. Governor Kim Reynolds says it shows Iowa again will serve as a valuable proving ground for Warren and the other candidates who’ll follow.   “I am so proud of the fact that we are the ‘first-in-the-nation’ caucus,” Reynolds says. “Iowa voters are engaged and informed. They ask good questions and I think, regardless of which side of the political aisle that you’re on.”

Reynolds, a Republican, is supporting Donald Trump’s nomination for a second term, but Reynolds says if a G-O-P challenger emerges, they’re welcome to compete in the Iowa Republican Party’s 2020 Caucuses. “That’s what elections are all about and so I don’t think we ever want to discourage that,” Reynolds says, “but I’m supporting the president.”

Trump finished second among the 15 candidates competing in the 2016 Iowa Republican Party Caucuses. More than twice as many Democrats are rumored to be considering a bid for the White House in 2020. “We welcome all of them and it’ll be kind of fun to be on the other side of that and see maybe 30 candidates on a debate stage or see what that looks like,” Reynolds says.

Senator Warren formed an “exploratory committee” this week, viewed as the first step in a presidential run. Warren’s first Iowa event is tonight (Friday) at McCoy’s Bar in Council Bluffs. Katie Larson, the manager of the bar’s gathering room, says the prep work is well underway. “Reconstructing our room so that we can have auditorium-style seating,” Larson says. “…She’ll have an entrance set up just for her.”

Warren will also make stops in Sioux City, Storm Lake, Des Moines and Ankeny this weekend.