By JILL COLVIN (Associated Press) OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Trips to Mar-a-Lago. Glowing speeches. Front-row seats at major events. The first Republican presidential primaries are nearly a year away and the candidate field is unsettled. But already, a shadow contest of another sort is underway with several Republicans openly jockeying to position themselves as potential running mates to Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the nomination. “A lot of people are right now auditioning,” Trump boasted to supporters in Florida last month. The mere mention of a running mate this early in the process is a departure from the traditional timeline of presidential primaries, where candidates typically spend the opening months of a campaign introducing themselves to voters and sharing their visions for the country.