DES MOINES (AP) — Mitt Romney will visit Iowa today for the first time since effectively locking up the Republican presidential nomination.

After a week in which the moral hot-button issue of gay marriage dominated the race for the White House, the former Massachusetts governor will attempt to focus attention on the nation’s debt during a speech at downtown hotel in Des Moines.

Iowa is among roughly a half-dozen states where Romney and President Barack Obama are expected to campaign most aggressively for the November election.