The race for the Republican nomination continues to heat up as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has decided to make a major play for success in the Iowa caucus.
Despite the growing number of contenders DeSantis is left to face, his team is confident that their candidate can secure at least a second-place finish in the state.
This news comes from an anonymous source who spoke to Politico about the campaign’s strategy.
While Trump sits behind glass box seats at the Iowa-Iowa State football game, Ron DeSantis and Kim Reynolds watch the game with @CarsonKing2 and fans pic.twitter.com/hKEVdQiAO4
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 9, 2023
The goal of the Ron DeSantis campaign is to essentially make it a two-person race between him and former President Donald Trump.
According to the anonymous campaign official, they seek nothing less than “a strong second-place” finish in Iowa and plan on using that result as leverage going into New Hampshire and beyond.
The Never Back Down PAC – an organization created to support DeSantis’ run for president – has made clear that Iowa is viewed as one of their top priorities.
Spokesman Jeff Roe recently stated that he believes Iowa would be more favorable ground than New Hampshire for Trump, saying “New Hampshire is a terrible state for Donald Trump… He’s gonna get like 28 percent [of primary votes]. We’re going to beat him in Iowa.”
????Just in: 2024 Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus Poll @DMRegister????
Donald Trump 42%
Ron DeSantis 19%
Tim Scott 9%
Nikki Haley 6%
Mike Pence 6%
Chris Christie 5%
Vivek Ramaswamy 4%
Doug Burgum 2%
Will Hurd 1%@jaselzer (A+) | 406 LV | 08/13-17 pic.twitter.com/QQZxUWgMhO— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) August 21, 2023
In order to give himself an edge over his opponents, Gov. DeSantis has been engaging heavily in retail politics within the state of Iowa – attending events such as Saturday’s football game between teams from both universities there – while former President Trump was also present at this event.
Public polling data shows that Trump holds an overwhelming lead among Republicans when compared with other candidates, including Ron DeSantis whose numbers have been lagging behind significantly despite his efforts thus far.
A RealClearPolitics polling average showed 44.5 percent support for Donald Trump versus only 16.7 percent support for Ron DeSantis – demonstrating just how big of a gap exists between them heading into what promises to be an interesting contest.
