“I’ve been incredibly encouraged by the support I’ve seen,” Cruz said in a media availability just outside of the Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines. “The support from the grassroots, frankly has been breathtaking, and the financial support we’ve received from Texas and all across the country. So it’s something I’m looking at closely, and I think that decision will be made shortly.”

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Cruz is in Iowa with a handful of other potential GOP candidates to address business-minded conservatives at the Iowa Ag Summit. He got a cool response from room full of hundreds of business-minded rural conservatives for his opposition to renewable fuel standards (RFS), which he has described as corporate welfare.

“While I recognize that this is a gathering of a lot of folks where the answer you’d like to hear is, ‘I’m for the RFS,’ ” Cruz said, provoking ironic applause from a few in the crowd.

“That’d be the easy thing to do,” Cruz continued. “But I’ll tell you, people are pretty fed up by the politicians who go around telling one group one thing and another group another thing, and then they go to Washington and don’t do anything they said they’re going to do.”

Cruz’s attacks against Washington turned the crowd back in his favor.

In an interview with reporters after his address, Cruz stood his ground, arguing that the ethanol and biofuel industries are doing just fine on their own.

“I think ethanol and biofuel can continue to prosper and grow, but I don’t think it needs a government mandate to continue to grow the ethanol market,” he said. “Washington shouldn’t be picking winners and losers.”

The fuel standards are wildly popular in Iowa because they boost the corn industry, one of the cornerstones of the Iowa economy.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who followed Cruz on stage, called the fuel standards “a holy grail” and vowed, “I will defend it.”

Cruz will meet with supporters later on Saturday at the Iowa Deer Classic Trade Show in Des Moines, as he gauges his support ahead of a potential presidential run.