Former President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis are officially tangled in a Faith-based Iowa Republican presidential primary race, as both men are now bragging about garnering significant campaign support from the coveted Iowa Bible-carrying voting bloc.
Gov. DeSantis, who appears to have the most visible ground game in Iowa, has been actively courting religious leaders throughout the state and even landed the endorsement of the CEO and President of The Family Leader Foundation, Bob Vander Plaats.
“I’m thrilled to throw my personal endorsement and support behind Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida,” said Vander Plaats to Fox News.
Vander Plaats has had an ongoing feud with former President Trump, and in 2015, endorsed Senator Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primary race over Trump.
The endorsement came in December and helped Sen. Cruz narrowly skate by Trump to win the Iowa caucus by 3 percentage points. It's important to note that the DeSantis campaign and the DeSantis-supporting Never Back Down PAC paid Vander Plaats's foundation $95,000 before the endorsement. Vander Plaats has confirmed his group did receive the money.
Vander Plaats’ November endorsement of Gov. DeSantis may appear to be a strategic play to help mitigate Trump’s growing support in Iowa. The latest Iowa State/Civiqs poll shows Trump with a significant 36-point lead over DeSantis even as his support on the ground looks to be increasing.
Up until this week, DeSantis appeared to have the evangelical vote all locked up with his campaign promoting the fact that he had received well over 100 endorsements from members of Iowa’s faith community.
But the perception that DeSantis had all but locked down the entire evangelical or faith-based support within the Hawkeye State took a hit when President Trump announced his own “significant show of support” from 150 Iowa faith leaders.
Touché.
“The overwhelming support from Iowa’s faith leaders is a clear indication of President Trump’s unwavering commitment to the principles and values that are important to people of faith,” said Pastor Dan McCoy, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Urbandale. “This announcement is not just a number; it’s a powerful message that faith communities trust President Trump to lead our nation forward with integrity and moral clarity.”
While DeSantis comes off as someone who wears Bible scriptures on his sleeve, Trump does not.
Good money is on DeSantis being able to cite scripture and not Trump, but that doesn’t appear to matter to Iowans.
Will the Vander Plaats endorsement move the needle for DeSantis?
Gov. Kim Reynolds, who holds a 52% approval rating among Iowa voters, recently endorsed DeSantis as well.
Gov. Reynolds's show of support does not appear to have helped DeSantis much, so it remains to be seen if voters will be swayed towards DeSantis by the Vander Plaats endorsement.
Vander Plaats and the DeSantis campaign have been pressing Trump’s recent assertion that DeSantis’s signing of a 6-week abortion ban in Florida was a “terrible” political decision to make considering that most Americans support a woman’s right to choose.
“I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” said Trump about DeSantis signing of the 6-week abortion ban in Florida.
DeSantis first signed a 15-week abortion ban bill during the 2022 legislative session in Florida, but less than 1 year later, pushed lawmakers to send him a “heartbeat” abortion bill to sign.
The Iowa causes will take place on January 15.
