Current:Home > StocksTrump and DeSantis will hold dueling campaign events in Iowa with the caucuses just six weeks away-LoTradeCoin
Trump and DeSantis will hold dueling campaign events in Iowa with the caucuses just six weeks away
View Date:2024-12-23 15:18:48
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis plans on Saturday to complete his campaign promise to visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties, a timeworn tactic for presidential candidates hoping to make their mark in the leadoff state over months mingling with voters at the state’s diners, cookouts and Pizza Ranches.
But the Florida governor’s moment, like much of his campaign, will take place under the towering shadow of former President Donald Trump.
Around the same time DeSantis is set to take the stage Saturday afternoon in Newton, Iowa, Trump will be addressing cheering supporters about 100 miles away in Cedar Rapids.
Just six weeks are left before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, which DeSantis has said he “absolutely” expects to win. He’s bet his campaign on the state, winning key endorsements from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and high-profile evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats.
“He’s showing up,” Reynolds said in an interview. “He’s not just landing, doing an event and heading out. He has put the time into the state.”
But Trump is dominant in both national and early-state polls and has held large rallies and events to organize caucusgoers throughout the fall. And DeSantis is facing new internal problems within his political operation — with two key officials leaving the major super PAC supporting him — and a stronger challenge from former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has been rising in early-state polls and picked up the support of Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the powerful Koch network.
Trump plans to speak at two events Saturday to encourage supporters to commit to caucus for him, first in the Des Moines area and then in the eastern part of the state in Cedar Rapids.
Trump’s campaign said the timing of the Cedar Rapids event compared to DeSantis’ 99th county celebration was coincidental. The campaign has dismissed DeSantis’ undertaking and compared him to a little-known GOP presidential candidate, businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley, who said he already visited all 99 counties.
“If Ron DeSantis can’t even keep up with Ryan Binkley in Iowa, how can he expect to be competitive with Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley for distant second place?” Trump’s campaign said in a statement earlier this week.
Reynolds, who will appear with DeSantis on Saturday in Jasper County, suggested he still has time to cut into Trump’s lead.
“He’s a staunch conservative and brings that to the table without the drama,” she said. “Iowans tend to break late. We’re seeing it. I think he’s really starting to hit his stride.”
DeSantis advisers argue that making stops in each county on Iowa’s sprawling checkerboard can squeeze critical support out of small rural counties while also demonstrating a commitment to courting all parts of the state.
veryGood! (47)
Related
- Jana Kramer’s Ex Mike Caussin Shares Resentment Over Her Child Support Payments
- Upgrade your tablet tech by pre-ordering the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 for up to $820 off
- Rudy Giuliani may have assigned volunteer to Arizona 'audit', new emails show
- Does Texas A&M’s botched hire spell doom for classroom diversity? Some say yes
- New Orleans marks with parade the 64th anniversary of 4 little girls integrating city schools
- Treat Williams' Family Honors Late Everwood Actor With Celebration of Life
- Police officer shot and wounded; suspect also hit in Los Angeles suburb of Whittier
- Voting rights groups urge court to reject Alabama's new congressional map
- 25 monkeys caught but more still missing after escape from research facility in SC
- Mississippi man gets 40 years for escaping shortly before end of 7-year prison term
Ranking
- South Carolina lab recaptures 5 more escaped monkeys but 13 are still loose
- Thermo Fisher Scientific settles with family of Henrietta Lacks, whose HeLa cells uphold medicine
- Mega Millions jackpot soars over $1 billion: When is the next drawing?
- Euphoria's Javon Walton, Chloe Bailey and More Stars Honor Angus Cloud After His Death
- Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
- Oxford school shooter was ‘feral child’ abandoned by parents, defense psychologist says
- 9 mass shootings over the weekend rock US cities, leaving 5 dead, 56 injured
- MLB trade deadline updates: All the moves and rumors that happened on Monday
Recommendation
-
Florida State can't afford to fire Mike Norvell -- and can't afford to keep him
-
Record monthlong string of days above 110 degrees finally ends in Phoenix
-
California woman's 1991 killer identified after DNA left under victim's fingernails
-
Biden opened a new student debt repayment plan. Here's how to enroll in SAVE.
-
A pair of Trump officials have defended family separation and ramped-up deportations
-
30 dogs and puppies found dead, 90 rescued from unlivable conditions at Ohio homes
-
In her next book ‘Prequel,’ Rachel Maddow will explore a WWII-era plot to overthrow US government
-
The Mets are trading 3-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander to the Astros, AP source says