In the fall, Trump was predicting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would drop out of the race. Neither DeSantis nor Vivek Ramaswamy, another GOP hopeful, have quitting on their minds right now.
"It's funny that folks in Trump's camp and in Nikki Haley's camp … they've spent $40 million against Gov. DeSantis. If they thought this wasn't so wide open, why would they do that?" Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) asked on American Family Radio Monday.
"Gov. DeSantis has a great infrastructure on the ground, and there are a significant number of people who are committed to him," Roy told show host Jenna Ellis. "He's got 1,500 committed precinct captains who we're talking to on a regular basis. There are a whole bunch of people who have pre-committed to caucus for him – historic numbers, if they're accurate – because they're filling out forms."
Roy and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a conservative Republican like Roy, have been on the ground in Iowa assisting the DeSantis campaign.
Polling for Iowa shows Trump at 50% followed by DeSantis at 18.4%, Haley at 15.7% – and Vivek Ramaswamy who, at 6.0%, says he isn't quitting either.
Stefan Mychajliw, a Ramaswamy spokesperson, told Ellis their campaign compares to Rick Santorum, the Iowa GOP winner in 2012. In fact, Team Vivek has employed Matt Schultz, an influential campaign staffer for Santorum in Iowa.
"Rick Santorum was at 5% in the polls three weeks before the Iowa caucus, and guess who won in 2012 – Rick Santorum. Same thing in 2016 with Ted Cruz, who was victorious in the Iowa caucus then," Mychajliw said.
Will Ramaswamy pull an upset?
Mychajliw said 40% of Ramaswamy's donors are first-time contributors who are flying under the radar of pollsters. He predicts "surprises" for his candidate in Iowa.
"What we are seeing on the ground in Iowa is a lot of people committing to caucus for Vivek, people who have never been polled before, they've never even voted before. It's going to be the first time they ever participate – not only in a caucus, but casting their ballot and voting for someone. That's why we believe very firmly that there's going to be a big shock for the Iowa caucus [next] week … for Vivek Ramaswamy," Mychajliw said.
Roy and Mychajliw say both of their preferred candidates have canvassed each of Iowa's 99 counties. That type of effort on the ground is especially important in a caucus state.
"You need a really strong ground game because you physically need to bring people to a location. These caucus meetings are arranged by local political parties, and people go into a gym, an auditorium, and you literally physically group with fellow [voters] on who you are going to support for president.
"Then you get to raise hands, people give speeches, and then based on the physical presence of people in a group in a caucus … that's who then receives votes and delegates. That's how it's different from a primary system," Mychajliw explained.
Roy said DeSantis has been to more than 200 events in Iowa, many of them recently with Roy alongside. "I feel like I've done almost 200 in the last week," he added.
Roy's presence becomes more important for the next day or two as DeSantis has returned to Florida.
Roy carrying on for DeSantis
"I'm still in Iowa, and I'm going to go all over the state with [Florida] First Lady [Casey DeSantis]. The governor had to fly back to Florida to go deliver the state of the state [address] in Florida, which, of course, is quite good. That's why he's running for president. He's such an effective governor," he said.
Roy contends there's energy and enthusiasm for DeSantis in Iowa. "What Iowans understand is it's not polls that decide this. Polls are pretty thin; they're not doing a lot of polls these days, and I think it's somewhat purposeful."
Roy said it's also purposeful that Trump has run a low-key campaign in Iowa.
"Trump is not out here [much]. He doesn't debate. When he does come out here, it's pretty non-energetic, to be honest with you. The reason he won't debate is pretty simple: I think he'd get his clock cleaned by Gov. DeSantis."
