Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds endorses DeSantis for president

Reporter: Claire Galt Writer: Nicholas Karsen
Published: Updated:
DeSantis
FILE – Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a meet and greet, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in Creston, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds officially endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for President of the United States in 2024.

Reynolds endorsed DeSantis at a pre-debate rally in Des Moines Monday evening.

The announcement is expected to come Monday night, amid DeSantis’ attempt to regain ground against former president Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nominee spot.

During the endorsement, Reynolds told Iowans to follow her lead by preferring DeSantis to Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

Reynolds is considerably popular, and similar to DeSantis, she won re-election by nearly 20 points. But it’s unclear if her endorsement will negate Trump’s 38-point lead over DeSantis.

Iowa University political scientist Tim Hagele told WINK News he expects Reynolds’ support to catapult DeSantis out of a tie with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

“We’re a little bit more than two months away from the caucuses, and it’s despite the holidays, this is when people are going to start paying attention and really looking at this,” said Hagele. “Their focus is down to a couple of people, three for Trump, including a couple of other folks, and so now this is when people are starting to make those decisions, so sometimes we do see a fair bit of movement these last few months.”

A strong second-place candidate is what Hagele says is the best DeSantis can hope for.

Trump isn’t happy about the endorsement, taking to Truth Social to say, “It will be the end of her political career in that MAGA will never support her again, just as MAGA will never support DeSanctimonious again.”

This announcement broke the precedent that the Iowa governor usually stays neutral in the run-up to the state’s caucuses.

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