In the final hours before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, the top 2024 Republican presidential candidates are making their pitches to convince voters why they would be the best to take on President Joe Biden.
Ahead of the voting, former President Donald Trump has established a large lead in the polls over former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Frigid temperatures and snow may impact turnout at the Monday caucus as the candidates urge their supporters to brave the elements for them.
During a rally on Sunday in Indianola, Trump told his supporters that Monday’s vote would be an opportunity to send a message to the D.C. establishment.
“These caucuses are your personal chance to score the ultimate victory over all of the liars, cheaters, thugs, perverts, frauds, crooks, freaks, creeps and other quite nice people,” he said. “The Washington swamp has done everything in its power to take away your voice. But tomorrow is your time to turn on them and to say and speak your mind and to vote.”
DeSantis, who has focused much of his campaign on Iowa, urged his supporters to show up for him on Monday, saying he would fight for them in Washington.
“Our responsibility is to carry the torch and conserve the sacred fire of liberty. You will have an ability to do that Monday night. I will take that torch into the remaining states and continue with this nomination battle,” DeSantis said in Akeny on Sunday evening. “I will be a candidate that will sweep us to victory — just like we did in Florida in record fashion — but more importantly than that, as a leader, I’ll always be somebody that you can be proud of.”
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Haley, who has climbed in some recent polling, also was confident on Sunday that she would perform well in Iowa.
“I think we’ve always had a target on our back because we’ve been the one moving up. Everybody else is going down, and that’s a great thing,” she said. “But the real poll, you know, is on caucus day. And what we’ve said is we just want to come out of Iowa looking strong. We want to come out of New Hampshire strong. We want to come out of South Carolina strong.”
Ramaswamy, who also has spent a lot of time in Iowa, has predicted that he will be victorious.
“I think we’re going to win the Iowa caucus, and that’s going to propel us to the next phase of this race,” he said. “The polls are totally off, many of the caucus-goers who are supporting us are first-time caucus-goers. I think that’s got the race set up exactly the way we want it. The expectations are set moderately for me, but we’re going to shatter those expectations.”
The caucus starts at 8:00 p.m. EST Monday, with only registered Republicans having the opportunity to vote. Caucus goers will be given an opportunity to hear from candidate representatives before casting a secret ballot for their preference. Republicans will meet at 1,657 precincts across the state’s 99 counties.
In Iowa, there are 40 delegates that can be won, with the percentage of the vote you win determining how many delegates you are allocated. There are 2,429 for the entire Republican presidential race.
While holding a caucus, Iowa Democrats will not be voting on Monday, but will be casting ballots by mail. The ballots started to go out on January 12 and will be accepted until Super Tuesday on March 5. Biden, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, and Marianne Williamson will all be on the ballot. The Democrats decided to ditch Iowa because it said it wanted to prioritize non-white voters.
Next week, New Hampshire will hold its first-in-the-nation primary on January 23, bucking the Democratic National Committee’s wish to have South Carolina be the first primary. There will be 22 Republican delegates up for grabs there. Biden will not be on the ballot in New Hampshire, but his team has pushed for Democrats to write in the president.
The first presidential primary the DNC will be holding will be in South Carolina on February 3. The next Republican caucus will be in Nevada and the Virgin Islands on February 8.
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