Stepping closer to becoming the Republican Party’s standard bearer, Mitt Romney will address GOP state party chairmen Friday at a meeting of the Republican National Committee in Arizona.

Romney, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will speak to the party chairs, who will become important partners in running ground operations in key swing states in this fall’s general election. Romney will speak to the group Friday during the RNC’s three-day meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., according to a Romney campaign official.