Caucus tourism: North Dakotan travels to Iowa frequently to see candidates

SIOUX CITY - Ramsay Trix hops into his Toyota Camry and tools 300 miles along the flat expanse of Interstate 29 to attend presidential campaign events. Nearly 10 times he's made the trip south from his home in Fargo, N.D., to northwest Iowa cities and towns.

He's been drawn to Iowa - home to the first-in-the-nation caucuses - by the chance to see Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz rallies in a way that isn't possible in North Dakota.

Trix, 35, began by seeing Republican candidate Ben Carson in Rock Rapids in late June. The most recent jaunt allowed him to see two candidates in late August in Sioux City and Onawa.

'It is something I've always wanted to do,” said the man who first remembers politics from watching a 1984 Ronald Reagan-Walter Mondale debate on television at age 4. 'I've been a political junkie all my life.”

‘Worthwhile' pursuit

Trix said his political travels were a good choice over the summer, when he was between jobs.

'I'm not sitting around the house watching ‘Married With Children' reruns all day. I am doing something worthwhile,” Trix said.

He said he's mindful of being an outsider in Iowa, even if no one at the events knows he's from North Dakota. That's why he might ask a question only near the end, after allowing presumed Iowans first dibs.

'I try to be kind of low-key, because I am a guest,” Trix said.

Trix said the expense in time and money - roughly $50 for gas and $25 for snacks on the same-day trips - is worth it. He doesn't mind making the 600-mile round trips by himself and continually invites his wife, Shawna, knowing she won't go.

'She isn't as into politics as I am,” Trix said.

Multiparty voter

While Trix votes for candidates from both major political parties, he leans Democratic. He admires Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, so it was worth the time to travel to Onawa, his farthest trip south so far, to see him in a cafe Aug. 26. An hour later, he attended the event where Hillary Clinton discussed rural development at Morningside College in Sioux City. He's not the biggest Hillary Clinton fan, although he said he'd happily vote for Bill Clinton to be president for a third time, if that were possible.

So far, Trix has seen Republicans Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Walker, Huckabee, Cruz and Carson, plus Democrats Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Trix said he's seen no candidate have a complete dud of a campaign event, although he thought Huckabee and Santorum gave lackluster answers to his questions.

The candidate who has most impressed Trix is Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas. 'Ted Cruz blew me away with his intellect. He just has a commanding presence,” Trix said.

POlling the Voters

Trix said he also picks the brains of other people at the events. He said he's found that moderate candidates don't do well with northwest Iowa Republicans.

'I get the sense that the Republicans are done with the moderate establishment, like the (2012 nominee Mitt) Romney types. Maybe that is just in Iowa, because Iowa Republicans are known for being conservative,” he said.

Lyon County Republican Party chairman Josh Baker is expecting Trix on Sept. 16, when party officials host a presidential debate watch party in Rock Rapids.

'(Trix) got wind of that, and he wants to buy snacks or a meal for the night,” Baker said. 'He's just enthralled by the process.”

Even though Trix starts a new job today at the Fargo airport, he still hopes to get back to see a few more candidates.

'I'd like to see Cruz again. That is worth the 300-mile trip,” Trix said.