Iowa
DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy, Binkley to court Feenstra endorsement at Saturday caucus event
Four Republican presidential candidates will make the trek to northwest Iowa on Saturday for an event with U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who is perhaps the state’s biggest potential endorser still up for grabs ahead of Caucus Day.
Texas Pastor Ryan Binkley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are slated to attend the Faith & Family with The Feenstras event in Sioux Center on Saturday morning.
The event is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to noon in BJ Haan Auditorium at Dordt University.
Feenstra, who represents the deeply conservative 4th Congressional District, previously said he intends to endorse. And after Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats weighed in on behalf of DeSantis, his is likely the outstanding endorsement most coveted by campaigns.
“I do plan to endorse,” Feenstra said in July. “I’m not sure when that will be, but I’m just looking forward to spending time this summer with all the different candidates that want to come through Iowa and want to come through western Iowa.”
Iowa’s Republican U.S. senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, have said they intend to remain neutral.
And while U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson previously have left the door open to endorsing, Feenstra’s cachet with Republicans in this critical corner of the state could be meaningful to campaigns trying to attract and motivate religious conservatives.
Feenstra’s Saturday event — which is likely to be one of the last multi-candidate events of the caucus cycle — could be a chance for candidates to sell him and undecided caucusgoers on their candidacies.
According to an October Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, Trump still leads the field with 43% of likely caucusgoers saying he is their first choice for president.
DeSantis and Haley are tied at 16%. Ramaswamy is at 4% and Binkley is at 0%.
A new Iowa Poll is scheduled to be released Monday at 5 a.m.
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.