DeSantis, trailing Trump, seeks spark in Iowa with Reynolds endorsement

He is down in Iowa polls by 30 points with just two months until the caucus. But with the endorsement of the state’s popular governor on Monday night, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis caught a spark.

“We are living in unprecedented times and there is just too much at stake. Our country is in trouble. The world is a powder keg. And I’m here to tell you, without a doubt, that Ron DeSantis is the person that we need leading this country,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told a cheering crowd in the state capital of Des Moines.

The endorsement was widely expected, but it could hardly come at a better time for DeSantis. He lags former President Donald Trump in early-state and national polls and must now contend for second place with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

In backing DeSantis, Reynolds emphasized the Florida governor’s decision to reopen his state early during the pandemic, in conflict with guidance from the White House — something he has highlighted as he seeks to erode Trump’s yawning polling advantage throughout the country.

A Republican consultant who works in Iowa and is familiar with Reynolds and DeSantis said the two struck up a friendship as they rejected federal lockdown guidance during Covid-19. The consultant, granted anonymity to speak freely about internal matters, said Reynolds called Haley over the weekend to let her know she was preparing to endorse DeSantis.

Reynolds and DeSantis have similarly conservative records. Both, for instance, signed into law six-week abortion bans in their states — moves that appeal to Iowa’s influential evangelical population, but that would likely spell trouble for a Republican in a general election based on voters’ behavior since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Endorsements in presidential races do not always move the needle, and the effect of Reynolds’ nod to DeSantis is hard to gauge. But within the political class in Iowa, it is likely to have some resonance.

Bob Vander Plaats, the influential Iowa evangelical leader, said he has conferred with Reynolds several times and acknowledged her decision will influence him as he prepares to make an endorsement in the presidential race in the coming weeks.

He has spoken positively about DeSantis, so much that Trump has already called into question any potential endorsement due to $95,000 the DeSantis operation paid to Vander Plaats’ Family Leader Foundation ahead of its annual summit in July.

For Reynolds, her endorsement of DeSantis was not only a statement of support for him — but a pointed rebuke of Trump, who publicly criticized her earlier this year for what he perceived as disloyalty. On Truth Social, he predicted her support for DeSantis would trigger the “end of her political career.”

“She’s a professional, but she’s still a person. I don’t think it helped President Trump’s case — his comments toward her,” Vander Plaats said.