WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Underscoring how much Iowa means to Ron DeSantis, Florida's governor was unwilling to suspend his campaign there even in the final hours of 2023.
At a New Year's Eve event in a ballroom at the Sheraton Hotel in West Des Moines, jeans and cowboy boots were more important than tuxedos and cocktail dresses, and Miller Lite seemed more popular than champagne.
But the modesty of the affair, which saw roughly 200 people show up for the final campaign event of Iowa's busy year, belied its importance to the host, who has bet the future of his Republican bid for president on the first primary in Iowa. only two weeks left.
“Are you ready to work hard these next two weeks and win the Iowa caucuses?” DeSantis asked the supporters who came to the suburban hotel Sunday evening.
As Donald Trump prepares to return this week for a series of rallies, DeSantis didn't just leave Iowa during the week between Christmas and New Year's. He campaigned in the suburbs of Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, visiting places he went in 2023 as part of his push to reach all 99 Iowa counties as a gesture of commitment to the leadoff nominating contests.
But Trump has a big advantage in the polls in Iowa and a sophisticated campaign organization in the state, threatening to deny DeSantis the victory he needs to stake his claim as the leading alternative to the former president.
DeSantis appeared Sunday night with his wife Casey and their young children and urged his audience to defy the odds. “I think we have an opportunity to just make a statement that we in this country are the people who ultimately decide these things,” he said. “Because I think you have a lot of media, they think you don't even matter.”
DeSantis wasn't alone in Iowa between Christmas and New Year's, a period usually free of politics. The earlier-than-usual spot of the Jan. 15 caucuses on the election-year calendar lured former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to eastern Iowa on Friday and Saturday, where she is competing with DeSantis as a Trump alternative.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also stormed the state and tried to be part of the conversation despite curbing his ad spend. Ramaswamy organized more than 20 events in Iowa this past week and weekend.
No one has more influence on Iowa than DeSantis, who reshuffled a campaign that was early on seen as national in scope after personnel changes over the summer due to overspending and internal disagreements. He took the stage Sunday night in West Des Moines with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and evangelical Christian leader Bob Vander Plaats, who have risked their own influence by supporting DeSantis.
DeSantis and his supporters asked the public Sunday to ignore polls showing him significantly trailing Trump.
“Everywhere I go, the polls don't match reality,” Vander Plaats told the crowd. “When I go to northwest Iowa – heavy Trump country – they all say the same thing to me. They like what he did, but it's time to turn the page.”
DeSantis has a relentless schedule for Iowa starting early this week. Trump, who has lured hundreds — even thousands — more to fewer events, is planning his own blitz for the past two weeks, including in deeply conservative northwest Iowa.