Former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) are headed to the California Republican state convention on Sept. 29, mere days after the GOP debate in Simi Valley at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The top two candidates for the Republican nomination for president will be at the convention on the same day, with Trump appearing first at the lunch banquet. DeSantis, meanwhile, will be the main speaker at the dinner. Other presidential contenders, such as entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), will also make appearances over the weekend.

PENCE TESTS APPETITE FOR OLD-SCHOOL CONSERVATISM IN TRUMP-ERA POPULIST GOP

California, which almost always goes to the Democratic candidate in the general election, is an important battleground for GOP candidates hoping to secure enough delegates to get them their party’s nomination. Conservative Californians will head to the primary voting booths on Super Tuesday, which will be on March 5, 2024.

The state used to divide the total delegates up based on the candidate that snagged each district. But in late July, the state party issued a new rule that the primaries could be “winner takes all” if a candidate secures at least half of the vote statewide. However, if no single candidate gets more than half, the delegates would be divided up.

(AP Photos)

“We saw right away, as soon as we made this rule change, multiple candidates saying, ‘We want to be at your convention,’” Jessica Millan Patterson, the California Republican Party’s chairwoman, told NBC News. “They are now playing in California. The ability to walk away from a Super Tuesday with a percentage of the delegates is really exciting for a lot of these candidates.”

DeSantis, Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, Scott, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have all qualified for the next debate, which will take place on Sept. 27. The debate will be moderated by Fox Business News.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Trump has signaled that he will miss all of the Republican debates as he remains the front-runner for the nomination. He skipped the first debate in Milwaukee last month, opting for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson instead.

The Washington Examiner has reached out to DeSantis’s and Trump’s campaigns for comment.