The former co-chairman of the Iowa Republican Party endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for president on Friday, citing his performance at the Republican National Committee‘s primary debate.
Dr. Cody Hoefert, who served as co-chairman of the Iowa GOP between 2014 and 2021, said, “There was one candidate that stood in the center of the stage stood strong at spoke about the issues Iowans cared about,” referring to Wednesday’s debate.
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“He talked about leadership. He talked about what he’s going to do to deliver and fix the problems that our nation faces. And I sat there with my wife and kids watching that debate and made up my mind that night that I was going to come out and endorse Ron DeSantis for president of the United States,” he said.
Hoefert was critical of former President Donald Trump after he publicized a feud with Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) and took credit for her election to governor last month. Trump had taken issue with Reynolds’s commitment to remaining neutral during the months leading up to Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses. While he disagreed with Trump’s actions, he held out on endorsing a different candidate.
After the incident involving Reynolds, Hoefert predicted that the rift would affect Trump negatively with voters in the Hawkeye State.
“Republican voters in Iowa understand the positive things, conservative-wise, that Gov. Reynolds has done since she was first elected. And so she has a high popularity rating, a high favorability rating among Iowa Republicans, specifically,” he said at the time.
“I think it’s an unforced error by the former president to go after a governor that’s as popular as governor Reynolds is,” he continued.
“I will tell you that I am looking for #leadership from our candidates tonight on the #GOPDebate stage,” Hoefert posted on Wednesday during the debate.
The former Iowa GOP co-chairman shared posts throughout the debate, including several complementary of DeSantis’s answers.
As to whether this endorsement will factor into voters’ decisions in the state, Iowa Republican strategist David Kochel said, “He’s well known among activists in GOP-heavy [northwest] Iowa, and he’s very well-liked.”
“I think it’s a good endorsement and comes at a time when Team DeSantis is trying to show strength and movement. Timely and helpful,” he added.
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In a recent poll of Iowa likely caucusgoers, DeSantis outperformed his national numbers while Trump underperformed. However, the former president is still the most popular candidate and maintained a double-digit lead, with 42% compared to DeSantis’s 19%.
Iowa pollster Ann Selzer, however, reported that the two candidates have competing “footprints” in the state. This metric is calculated by adding voters’ first choices, second choices, and who they’re still considering. DeSantis’s footprint is 61%, while Trump’s is 63%.
