DeSantis ekes out second-place finish in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa — Ron DeSantis edged out Nikki Haley to finish second in the Iowa caucuses, all but ensuring that the Florida governor will continue campaigning at least until the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary.

DeSantis and Haley both finished far behind Donald Trump, the runaway winner of the caucuses.

DeSantis took the stage for a few minutes at a campaign party in West Des Moines after he secured second place.

“Because of your support, in spite of all of that they threw at us, everyone against us — we've got our ticket punched out of Iowa,” he said.

DeSantis spent millions in the Hawkeye State, visited all 99 counties and cultivated the endorsements of popular Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting his candidacy, also spent more than nine months building a ground game and appointing 1,600 precinct captains across the state. The organization proved to be crucial, especially as caucusgoers braved subzero temperatures and dangerous road conditions.

“The governor has been running across the state, making the case, talking to Iowans looking them in the eye, and telling them what he's gonna do — and with him it's 100 percent you can take it to the bank,” said Scott Wagner, the CEO of Never Back Down.

Wagner and other DeSantis supporters were dismayed that The Associated Press called the race 30 minutes into the start of the caucuses, before some caucusgoers cast their ballots. They described getting mobile alerts calling Trump the winner before surrogates had a chance to finish their speeches.

Florida GOP House Speaker Paul Renner, who flew to Des Moines from Tallahassee to volunteer and encourage caucusgoers to support the governor, said he’d been “proud” to be part of the process but worried the media had been too focused on trying to post results as soon as possible rather than give Iowans more time.

“I think it's disconcerting to Iowa voters who have come out in subzero weather to vote,” he said. “Their votes haven't been counted yet and they're already calling the state.”

In the months leading up to the caucuses DeSantis consistently trailed Trump, who is facing 91 criminal counts in four separate cases. With each indictment, Trump appeared to grow more popular, with Republican voters choosing him over DeSantis in the vast majority of polls.

DeSantis ran a campaign heavily focused on talking about his conservative record in Florida, including a six-week ban on abortion, restrictions on LBGTQ+ curriculum, cutting taxes and controlling the way racial relations are talked about in schools and workplaces.

The most recent Des Moines Register poll had DeSantis trailing Haley by four percentage points, 20 percent to 16 percent, though both were far behind Trump. The governor’s allies warned in the weeks leading up to Caucus day that the polls were wrong and DeSantis would stage an upset.

DeSantis at times struggled to contrast himself with Trump and how to address his indictments. He eventually settled on criticizing Trump for failing to keep his promises on border security, Obamacare and “draining the swamp.” He also blamed Trump for increasing the national debt and asking states to close down at the start of the Covid pandemic.

He warned Trump would be a drag on down-ballot candidates who’d face questions about his legal issues rather than their policies.

“Donald Trump is running for his issues, Nikki Haley is running for her donor issues and I’m running for you and your family’s issues,” DeSantis said at his various stops across Iowa in the closing days ahead of the caucuses.

From the outside, the governor’s campaign appeared to be struggling for months. He’d endured more than $23 million in brutal attack ads from MAGA Inc., as well as a string of layoffs and negative headlines that showed donors were displeased over the heavy hand he took in Florida over business policies and abortion rights.

"They threw everything at Ron DeSantis. They couldn’t kill him,” the DeSantis campaign said in a statement. “He is not only still standing, but he’s now earned his ticket out of Iowa. This is going to be a long battle ahead, but that is what this campaign is built for. The stakes are too high for this nation and we will not back down."

DeSantis on Tuesday will travel to South Carolina, where Haley used to be governor, before flying to New Hampshire for a CNN town hall. He has said in press interviews that he plans to be in the race for the “long haul.”

But in most polls, DeSantis is running a distant third in New Hampshire, leaving questions as to what his strategy is in staying in the race.