Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joins crowded Iowa caucus field

DES MOINES — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his campaign for president Wednesday, jumping into an already crowded Republican presidential primary as he seeks to sway Iowa voters ahead of the 2024 caucuses.

DeSantis poses the most significant challenge to former President Donald Trump, who currently leads Republican primary polling nationally and in Iowa. But his entry comes after half a dozen other Republicans also have entered the race — fracturing the party’s anti-Trump bloc and making it more difficult to mount a successful challenge to the former president, said veteran Republican strategist Eric Woolson.

“There was all this sense that he and Trump were going to be the two 800-pound gorillas in the race,” said Woolson, who has worked on presidential campaigns but is unaffiliated this election cycle. “And maybe that still happens, but at this point, the Trump campaign has done a very solid job of neutralizing any advantages that Gov. DeSantis has. And in the meantime, he's had some missteps that have slowed his momentum considerably.”

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott also announced his candidacy this week, joining former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Ohio biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and other Republican hopefuls, who have been frequent guests in Iowa over the last several months.

DeSantis paired a campaign video launch with a conversation on Twitter Spaces with the site’s billionaire owner Elon Musk, which was delayed close to 30 minutes because of technology issues. Once the livestream was relaunched, DeSantis pitched his vision for the country: challenging Democratic President Joe Biden for bowing to a “woke mob” and painting an image of chaos at the southern border and crime in cities.

He pointed to his achievements in Florida, citing a low crime rate, low taxes, high marks in education and a quickly increasing population. He also made the case that he is the one to pick in the Republican primary election, not mentioning Trump by name.

“My pledge to you is this: If you nominate me, you can set your clock to January 20, 2025, at high noon,” he said. “Because on the west side of the U.S. Capitol, I will be taking the oath of office as the 47th president of the United States. No excuses, I will get the job done.”

The 44-year-old Florida governor has been laying the groundwork for his campaign for months, embarking on a national book tour and making multiple visits to Iowa this year.

In building his national profile, DeSantis has embraced culture war battles and pushed a number of policies in Florida going after so-called woke agendas in education and elsewhere. He’s frequently said Florida is “where woke goes to die.”

Gloria Mazza, the chair of the Polk County Republican Party, said a good chunk of Republican voters are undecided and looking to hear from the field of candidates.

“We’re all over the board. There’s nothing that I can pinpoint to say that DeSantis has tremendous support here,” she said. “They all have some support of some form.”

Woolson said he expects DeSantis to emphasize the argument that he is “Trump without the drama,” something Republicans hesitant to support Trump have said they are looking for. But DeSantis’s opponents have already begun taking shots at that argument: On Wednesday, Haley launched a video comparing DeSantis with Trump, with the message “America deserves a choice, not an echo.”

Trump has frequently attacked DeSantis, saying in a March visit to Davenport the governor would be “very, very bad on ethanol” and accusing him of wanting to make changes to Social Security benefits. A Trump-aligned PAC launched an ad dubbing him “Ron DeSales Tax” for having backed a proposal to impose a national sales tax.

DeSantis regularly takes second place behind Trump in national primary polls. There is a 30-point gap between the two candidates in FiveThirtyEight's polling average that has only widened since March. A May poll in Iowa by National Research showed DeSantis with 26 percent of Republican support, trailing Trump, who pulled 44 percent.

In a statement, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said DeSantis has “tripled down on a MAGA agenda,” pointing to book restrictions at schools and a six-week abortion ban in Florida.

“One thing is guaranteed — whoever makes it out will only have done so by catering to the most MAGA, right-wing Republicans in the primary,” Harrison said.

Building support in Iowa

The announcement comes as a pro-DeSantis PAC, Never Back Down, is planning a blitz in early states, spending at least $200 million to connect with potential voters, according to the New York Times.

“Any candidate running in Iowa has to have a strong ground game,” Woolson said. “It’s not going to be a matter of any candidate just flying in here, making a few appearances and relying on star power. They’re going to have to work for it.”

Earlier this month, 37 Iowa legislators — nearly a quarter of state lawmakers — announced their support for DeSantis’s expected presidential bid.

Rep. John Wills, a Republican from Spirit Lake and the speaker pro tempore of the Iowa House, was among those lawmakers.

“I think that we've got some candidates in the race right now that are already in that are really looking to the past,” Wills said. “And that's what I really like about DeSantis, that he's looking to the future. He’s looking to help the United States become successful; get out of where we're at now and move forward with a bright new beginning.”

DeSantis’ Iowa backers also pointed to the similar legislative agendas between Iowa and Florida, which the Florida governor has touted alongside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

“And if you like what happened in Iowa,” said Rep. Norlin Mommsen, a Republican from DeWitt, “ … then I think he's the one that can make the United States like Iowa.”