Ron DeSantis looks forward: Iowa’s West Des Moines Florida After finishing far behind former President Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses and barely beating out former U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would continue in the 2024 race.
At a caucus watch party in West Des Moines on Monday night, DeSantis told a group of supporters, “You assisted us in getting the Hawkeye state to punch our ticket.”
DeSantis’s path after Iowa is uncertain. In New Hampshire and South Carolina, where he has spent far less time this cycle than in Iowa, DeSantis has fallen behind both Trump and Haley by widening proportions. However, his campaign wants to finish this contest ahead of Haley and face Trump head-to-head.
“This is quickly becoming into a two-person race; it might simply take a few more weeks to reach that point,” wrote Andrew Romeo, the director of communications for DeSantis, in a press statement on Tuesday.
Other fund-raisers had hope. DeSantis managed to stay ahead of Haley.
“I don’t believe Haley had a nice night.Donors that make up DeSantis’ national finance committee include donors like Hal Lambert, with whom the candidate is somewhat in competition for their funds.
DeSantis began his campaign Tuesday in Greenville, South Carolina, where he centered most of his criticism on Haley. He stopped in New Hampshire as well.
He said he debated California Governor Gavin Newsom in November to “practice debating somebody who’s almost as liberal as Nikki Haley,” questioned the efficacy of her time as governor, and informed reporters that Haley would not be able to win New Hampshire, a state in which she has dedicated time to and where her polling has steadily increased.
DeSantis stated, “She hasn’t done well in debates.” “Like I just did, she will not answer questions from voters. She is essentially hermetically sealed by them.”
Haley said she wouldn’t participate in the WMUR/ABC debate in New Hampshire this week unless Trump turned up, and DeSantis has blasted her for her decision. The candidates’ refusal to participate led to the debate’s cancellation, ABC News and WMUR-TV reported on Tuesday.
Haley has decided to move on from DeSantis. She called the campaign “differences between Trump and with me,” telling CBS News on Tuesday. She also brushed off DeSantis’ efforts in New Hampshire and South Carolina, pointing out that he is only polling in the single digits. DeSantis was not even mentioned by Haley’s campaign in a late-night briefing on the condition of the race.
“There are now just two contenders left in the race: Nikki Haley and Trump, who have strong support in both South Carolina and New Hampshire,” wrote Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankeny.
DeSantis, however, made it clear on Tuesday that he still intends to pursue opportunities in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Haley’s home state, and Nevada, where he is listed on the caucus ballot and qualified to get delegates.
“She is from this state and this is her home state. “I don’t see how she could say she’s going to win Super Tuesday or any of those other states if she can’t win this,” he said to reporters in Greenville. “For us, this is a fantastic state. This isn’t where we’ve spent a lot of money yet. We will begin to make ourselves a little more known.Ron DeSantis looks forward
Republican voter from South Carolina who leans toward Trump for the February primary, John Barkman, attended DeSantis’ Greenville speech and stated he thinks the state’s conditions “are similar to Iowa in that Trump is way, way, way ahead.”