(BrightPress.org) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced her official endorsement of Republican primary candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, November 6th.
Her endorsement was expected for some time as she had appeared with DeSantis and his wife multiple times during his campaign. She was attempting to remain somewhat neutral in advance of Iowa’s primary since it’s the first one in the nation.
During her announcement on Monday, she said that she doesn’t believe Trump could win. She had previously maintained that she would remain neutral until after the vote but changed her mind to support DeSantis in an attempt to consolidate support around him since he still lags behind Trump in all the major polls.
DeSantis called her endorsement “very meaningful” due to Iowan’s love for Reynolds, who’s serving her second term in office. He said that every time he mentioned her name during an event the crowd cheered in response.
Reynolds said she couldn’t “sit on the sidelines” a moment longer because the stakes are high and the “world is a powder keg,” so she felt the need to declare sooner rather than later. The Iowa caucuses will be held on January 15th, so there is still time for the candidates to campaign and make their case to voters.
Polls from last month show DeSantis with approximately 16% of likely Republican primary votes in Iowa while Trump was 43%. DeSantis lost ground when compared to August polls which showed him with 19% at the time.
His campaign has been pushing hard in Iowa, attempting to get the governor to visit all of the 99 counties in the state. It remains to be seen whether her endorsement will make a significant impact on his poll numbers.
Reynolds broke with tradition to make the endorsement before the vote. Previous Gov. Terry Branstad served multiple terms in office, from 1983 to 1999 and again from 2011 to 2017. He mentored Reynolds and made it a personal policy to never endorse a candidate in the Iowa caucuses. He said that he wanted to welcome all candidates in Iowa.
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