Casey DeSantis campaigns without Ron

Casey DeSantis will make her solo debut on the Iowa campaign trail Thursday when she launches “Mammas for DeSantis” — a group aimed at increasing Ron DeSantis’ support among women in the crucial early voting state.

Florida’s first lady will launch the group along with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds in Johnston, outside Des Moines, as Ron tries to make up ground against rival Donald Trump in the polls.

The mother-of-three’s move comes after one of her husband’s closest allies admits that DeSantis campaign is “far behind” and Donald Trump is the “runaway frontrunner.”

Casey has accompanied Ron DeSantis to many events around the state, including one where she wore a black leather jacket with the words “Where wake goes to die” on the back.

She is considered a “secret weapon” with a warm personality, while Florida’s governor has faced allegations that he is awkward with voters.

Florida’s first lady will launch the group along with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds in Johnston, outside Des Moines, as Ron tries to catch up with rival Donald Trump in the polls

DeSantis launched a similar effort for her husband in 2022 when he ran for a second term as governor of Florida. She signed up 1.1 million moms to support his re-election bid.

Iowa, in particular, is a DeSantis target, and many around him believe he can repeat what Barack Obama did in the 2008 Democratic primary. Obama had a surprise victory over front-runner Hillary Clinton that helped him cross the finish line to the party’s nomination .

Gov. DeSantis won female voters in that race by 9 percent.

And he’s going all in on Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, trying to garner support so he can get an early win there as he battles Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination.

“As the father and mother of young children, Governor DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis know that when parents are engaged, America thrives,” read an invitation to the event obtained by the Des Moines Registry.

“We need every mama and granny in every corner of the country to stand up and fight back by electing Ron DeSantis President of the United States of America.”

Trump lost the Iowa caucuses in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, coming in second to Ted Cruz.

DeSantis is hoping for a similar victory, even though Trump leads by 15 points in the RealClearPolitics Poll Average of the state.

DeSantis is even considering visiting all of Iowa’s 99 counties. The messenger reported. He also made his first campaign appearance after his official announcement in Iowa. He got off to an aggressive start in the state and did a four-stop blitz in one day.

Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his wife Casey and their daughter Madison walk in the Fourth of July Parade in the rain in Merrimack, New Hampshire

Donald Trump, seen above campaigning in Grimes, Iowa, is leading in state polls

Casey DeSantis stood by him on many of these stops.

Already heralded as DeSantis’ secret weapon, Florida’s first lady is seen as having the warm, personable quality on the campaign trail that he lacks.

But she has also been attacked, such as during a June campaign appearance in Iowa, when she wore a black leather jacket with the text “where awake goes to die” on the back.

Critics called her a cheap fake version of former first lady Melania Trump.

The liberal news website Daily Beast went after DeSantis for her fashion choice.

“Casey DeSantis is the Walmart Melania,” the headline read Daily beast on Monday, in an op-ed written by the site’s editor-in-chief, Katie Baker.

Casey DeSantis was blasted for wearing a black leather jacket in Iowa that says “where wake goes to die” – above she wears the jacket while standing next to her husband Ron DeSantis

Baker described it as “a nasty black leather jacket – American flag on the front, an alligator and the silhouette of her on the back, with the mocking words ‘Where Woke Goes to Die’ – that reminded me of nothing more than the shelves of a Red State big-bin store where it would retail for $24.99.”

She accused Ron and Casey DeSantis as “knockoffs” and “poseurs.” False Birkins. Mar-a-Lago imitators. … They want it way too much and you can tell.’

DeSantis supporters flooded social media with messages of support for the governor’s wife, who was a prominent presence by his side during his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.

And the DeSantis campaign is now selling a black sweatshirt that says “where awake goes to die” for $65.

The Daily Beast piece called Casey a ‘Walmart Melania’

The DeSantis campaign sells black sweatshirts that say “where awake goes to die”

Melania and Donald Trump with Ron and Casey DeSantis in a photo from the Trump administration

And the DeSantis team is dealing with the fallout from Steve Cortes, a former Trump surrogate who is now the spokesperson for DeSantis’ Never Back Down PAC, says their campaign is behind schedule.

Cortes participated in one Twitter Spaces discussion Sunday night with anonymous Twitter user CryptoLawyerz.

He said he switched to Team DeSantis because he believed the governor was more eligible than Trump — but that’s if he makes the Republican primary.

“Right now we’re way behind in the national polls, I’ll be the first to admit that,” Cortes said. “I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle, but Donald Trump is clearly the runaway leader.”

Cortes said he believed the primary — which attracted at least 11 mainstream Republican candidates — was actually thanks to two people, Trump and DeSantis.

He said DeSantis was the “clear underdog.”

“In the first four states, which matter a lot, the polls are a lot tighter, we’re still clearly behind,” he said. “We’re down by double digits, we have work to do.”