GREENSBORO, N.C. — More than 2,000 people around the state are expected to attend the North Carolina GOP Convention.
This is the second year the event will be at Greensboro's Koury Convention Center.
This year, the event will gain national attention.
That's because three of the top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination are scheduled to speak on Friday and Saturday.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former President Donald Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence, who officially announced he was entering the race Wednesday, will all speak at events on Friday and Saturday but will not appear together.
"It's a really big deal, and it's great for Guilford County to have the three top Republican candidates visit us this weekend," Chris Meadows, Chairman for the Guilford County GOP, said.
Political Science Professor Thomas Little says we could see some endorsements among the presidential candidates and the Republicans running for governor, including Mark Robinson, Dale Folwell, and Mark Walker.
"You've got these three distinct paths to the governorship, and I am more interested and intrigued if we are going to get any kind of endorsement, and even if it's not a verbal endorsement if you're seen on stage with one of the three and not the other two, that's going to be big," Little said.
Little says the eventual nominee for both races will need to support one another in the 2024 race.
"North Carolina is in play. I tend to think that the Republicans can't win the White House without North Carolina Next year," Little continued.
Additional traffic and law enforcement around the Koury Convention Center and the Four Seasons Mall starting Thursday.
The convention runs through Sunday and is not open to the public.