Campaign Almanac: N.D. Gov. Doug Burgum headed to Iowa after launching presidential bid

Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will visit Iowa this week after making his presidential campaign official Wednesday.

Burgum, a former software entrepreneur and Microsoft executive, joins a crowded Republican primary field eager to cement themselves as the most appealing alternative to former President Donald Trump, the leading front-runner in the race for the GOP nomination.

Trump polls ahead of the rest of the field by a wide margin, according to RealClearPolitics rolling average of primary polls.

Burgum’s entry comes on the heels of a Tuesday night campaign launch in New Hampshire by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and just ahead of former Vice President Mike Pence’s campaign kickoff in Des Moines on Wednesday.

The North Dakota governor said he plans to focus on traditional pro-business GOP issues: the economy, energy and national security — and avoid the culture wars that Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have embraced.

"Woke was what you did at 5 a.m. to start the day," Burgum said in a video earlier this week to preview his candidacy, alluding to DeSantis, the candidate closest to Trump in national polling in the GOP presidential primary.

DeSantis has focused his campaign on waging a “war” on “woke” ideology, a decades-old term to be socially aware and empathetic to social injustices that’s turned into a pejorative and political buzzword used to describe those who push for equality and inclusion, or anything deemed too liberal or progressive.

Burgum will swing through Eastern Iowa Thursday, with stops in Farley and Dyersville. He is scheduled to tour and meet with employees at a farm equipment supplier in Farley in the morning, before stopping at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, according to his campaign.

He then heads to Ankeny, Elkhart, Des Moines and Marshalltown on Friday.

Burgum plans to meet with the Northside Conservative Breakfast Club in Ankeny on Friday morning, followed by a town hall with employees at a construction equipment company in Elkhart, a stop at the World Pork Expo at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines and lunch with local activists in Marshalltown.

Iowa lawmaker switches backing from DeSantis to Ramaswamy

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Ohio biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign announced receiving the endorsement of Iowa state Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf.

Webster, who could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday, had been previously been listed as having endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Webster was among some three dozen Iowa legislators a pro-DeSantis super PAC listed as backers in the days leading up to the Florida governor’s presidential launch in Iowa.

Webster told POLITICO earlier this week he was switching his endorsement to Ramaswamy, describing him as “the future of the Republican Party.”

“Over the past few months, I’ve been able to get to know Vivek and learn how deeply we are aligned on the need to speak hard truths and find real solutions to the issues we face as a nation today,” Webster said in a statement released by Ramaswamy’s campaign.

“Vivek has the knowledge and drive needed to bring the America First agenda to the next level while charismatically delivering an optimistic vision not heard since Ronald Reagan,“ according to the statement. ”Today I am proud to endorse Vivek Ramaswamy to be our next President and I encourage my colleagues, whether you previously endorsed another candidate or not, to join me in standing with Vivek.“

Ramaswamy campaign announces Iowa co-chairman

Ramaswamy’s campaign announced the addition of former Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz as his Iowa caucus co-chairman.

Schultz previously served as co-chair for Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in their Iowa campaigns.

“Vivek Ramaswamy is exactly what America needs right now: a political outsider who will lead a national revival,” Schultz said according to a statement released by Ramaswamy’s campaign.

Schultz joins former Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman to lead Ramaswamy’s caucus efforts in Iowa.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau