CNN

Brownback predicted he will do well in the Iowa straw poll.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback said Wednesday he plans compete in the Iowa straw poll this August and "look[s] forward to going head-to-head against Mitt Romney."

Brownback made the announcement at his Iowa campaign headquarters, two days after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain announced they were skipping the event.

"People deserve to know where a candidate stands, and you don't declare yourself the winner before the game is played," Brownback added in a subtle dig toward the former Massachusetts governor.

Rob Wasinger, Brownback's campaign manager, was less subtle in a statement released following the announcement.

"This will be a great contest between a Midwestern conservative farmer and a Northeastern liberal Republican who has flip-flopped on fundamental issues and will find limited support in Iowa as the summer goes on," he said.

After Giuliani and McCain announced they planned to skip the Iowa event, Romney's campaign spokesman Kevin Madden touted Romney's organization in the Hawkeye State and said "It looks as if we just beat those campaigns in Iowa two months earlier than we had planned on beating them."

The straw poll, sponsored by the state Republican party and set to be held in Ames, Iowa, on August 11, has traditionally been seen as a barometer of a candidate’s organizational strength in the early-voting state.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney