After endorsement, Reynolds ‘ready to go to bat’ for DeSantis

DAVENPORT -- Iowans are likely to see more of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on the campaign trail for fellow governor Ron DeSantis following her endorsement this week.

Reynolds campaigned Tuesday at the Iowa Machine Shed in Davenport with DeSantis after she endorsed his presidential campaign Monday during a Des Moines rally. The endorsement of the popular governor is a big get for the Florida governor as he tries to persuade Iowa Republicans he is the best alternative to former President Donald Trump.

She pointed to DeSantis’ legislative record and landslide re-election in Florida, and told the Davenport audience that he "is the most effective leader that I have ever seen."

"He is the guy who will do the right thing, that has the conviction to make the right choices when it's not easy to do. He is a leader, and he is a winner, and he is the candidate that will get this country back on track," Reynolds said.

Reynolds told reporters after the event she was "ready to go to bat and do everything we can to get him elected the next president of the United States." That is likely to include more campaign appearances from Reynolds with and without DeSantis.

Asked whether he expected to win the Iowa caucuses with Reynolds' endorsement, DeSantis nodded and said: "I think so, yeah, yeah absolutely." But it's unclear how much Reynolds' endorsement will move the needle on DeSantis' support in Iowa ahead of the Jan. 15 caucuses.

Trump holds a commanding lead over the Republican presidential field, leading DeSantis 43 to 16 percent in the most recent Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll of likely GOP caucusgoers. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was tied with DeSantis at 16 in the poll.

DeSantis has focused his resources in Iowa, including moving campaign staff to the state and pledging to visit all 99 counties. He said returning to Scott County as a candidate Tuesday marked visits to 88 counties. He previously appeared in Davenport with Reynolds before he launched his campaign for the nomination.

Reynolds had initially said she would remain neutral in the lead-up to the Jan. 15 caucuses, but over the summer she opened the possibility that she may end up endorsing a candidate.

Iowa governors typically have sat on the sidelines as they host candidates in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. In breaking from that, Reynolds told the Davenport crowd it took her a while to come to her decision.

"If we don't win this next election, I am really fearful of where we go and how we have lost this country. So it is so important when we show up on Jan. 15, and we go to the caucus, we need to make sure that we choose wisely," Reynolds said. "That we make the right decision, that we elect somebody who can actually win and beat Joe Biden. And we need a president who has the skills and the resolve to reverse the madness that we see on a daily basis. We need a president that is focused on the future and not the past. And we need a president who puts Americans and America first."

At the Machine Shed, DeSantis stuck mostly to his campaign speech. He repeated pledges to cancel student visas for college students who express support for Hamas and to treat Mexican cartels as foreign terrorists and use military resources to dismantle them.

Erin Murphy of The Gazette Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.