116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Campaign Almanac: DeSanits, Haley launch closing TV ads in Iowa
Also, Libertarian Party of Iowa will host pre-caucus debate
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ closing ad to Iowa voters hits GOP primary rival Nikki Haley for telling a New Hampshire crowd that its primary voters have the opportunity to "correct" the results of the Iowa caucuses.
“Haley disparages the caucuses and insults you,” the ad’s narrator says after playing a clip of Haley making the comment in New Hampshire.
DeSantis also criticizes former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination who holds a commanding lead among likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers in Iowa polls.
“Donald Trump is running for his issues. Nikki Haley’s running for her donors’ issues. I’m running for your issues,” the Florida governor says in the TV spot.
Haley, meanwhile, has new ads out in Iowa featuring Marlys Popma, the former president of Iowa Right to Life who has endorsed Haley’s campaign, and another urging Iowa voters to move on from Trump and President Joe Biden and “embrace a different kind of forward-looking leadership,” according to her campaign.
“Nikki will keep the radical left from ruining our culture,” Pompa says in the ad. “She won’t let boys play girls’ sports, and she’ll stop the assault on our values. Nikki’s a sister in Christ. She has guts. Nikki Haley will make us proud.”
A separate 30-second ad spot features footage of Haley from her time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and on the campaign trail.
“Imagine a president with grit and grace, a different style, not a name from the past,” a narrator says, featuring a split screen of both President Joe Biden and Trump.
The statewide ad highlights her stance on border security, telling Iowa voters that their family “deserves a border secure.”
The ad closes out with footage from Haley’s campaign launch from February in Charleston.
“Let's save our country and secure our future, and let's move forward together toward our destiny in a strong and proud America,” Haley says.
Trump and his campaign have made Haley a target of their attacks. A new ad accuses Haley of opposing the border wall that Trump famously campaigned on in 2016.
"Just because President Trump says something, doesn't make it true," Haley said during a Fox News town hall Monday in Des Moines. "He's taking snippets of things I said. I said, 'You shouldn't just do the border wall. You have to do more than that.' That's what I said."
Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in Trump’s administration, has sought to walk a fine line between criticizing the former president and not alienating a sizable Republican electorate that favors Trump. It’s a stance that has led to criticism from opponents of Trump who say she isn’t being hard enough on the former presidents, as well as Republican voters who like Trump.
“I have said multiple times. I don't think it's good for the country for him to become president again. I've made that very clear,” Haley said last month during a town hall in Anamosa, where she was asked by an attendee whether Trump presents “a grave danger to our country.”
“The problem is, what I have faced is anti-Trumpers don’t think I hate him enough. Pro-Trumpers don’t think I love him enough,” Haley said after ticking through criticisms of the former president ranging from his praise of foreign dictators to government spending.
Republican campaigns have spent almost $105 million on ads in Iowa in the lead up to the state’s first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses that kick off the Republican presidential nominating cycle.
A RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polling shows Trump with 52.3 percent support among likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers, with DeSantis and Haley in a virtual tie for a distant second with about 16 percent support each.
Libertarian Party of Iowa to host pre-caucus debate
The Libertarian Party of Iowa will host a pre-caucus debate on Sunday — a little more than 24 hours before the Iowa caucuses Monday night — at a pizza restaurant in Des Moines.
Confirmed candidates who will participate in the debate are Lars Mapstead, Mike ter Maat, Chase Oliver, Art Olivier and Joshua Smith.
“This event is open the public, and the LPIA encourages caucusgoers, and potential delegates to attend, and engage with candidates and their visions for the future,” according to a news release.
The debate is set to take place 3-5 p.m. Sunday at Felix & Oscar’s Restaurant, 4050 Merle Hay Rd., Des Moines. The discussion will be moderated by Marco Battaglia, former Libertarian candidate for Iowa lieutenant governor and attorney general.
The debate will feature a networking session for candidates and attendees and a question-and-answer from Iowans and potential party delegates. It will be livestreamed on the Libertarian Party of Iowa's social media channels.
Christina Bohannan: $1.3 million raised for congressional campaign
Iowa City Democratic congressional candidate Christina Bohannan announced raising more than $650,000 in the most-recent fundraising quarter, bringing her total contributions to $1.3 million since she launcher her bid in August, the details of which were first shared with The Messenger.
Bohannan’s campaign said 81 percent of her contributors were from Iowans.
The University of Iowa law professor and former state representative is making her second bid for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, which covers 20 counties in southeast Iowa, including Johnson County.
Bohannan is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, now in her second term in Congress.
According to most-recent Federal Election Commission filings, Miller-Meeks raised a total of more than $1.8 million this election cycle and had nearly $1.4 million cash on hand as of the end of September. She had not yet announced her campaign hauls for the final fundraising quarter of 2023.
David Pautsch, a Davenport Republican and minister known for organizing the annual Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast, is challenging Miller-Meeks in the GOP primary.
Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau
Daily Newsletters