DeSantis enlists help to make closing case to Iowans – and to undercut Haley in the Hawkeye State

By Steve Contorno, CNN

(CNN) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is enlisting new help in Iowa as he scrambles to ward off mounting interest in the rival presidential candidacy of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley: One of her former constituents.

South Carolina state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, a deeply conservative lawmaker who has pushed a legislative agenda in his state similar to contentious laws championed by DeSantis in Florida, will join the Republican governor for stops in Iowa on Thursday and Friday, where he intends to share a perspective from the Palmetto State on its former leader, he told CNN.

“I know Governor Haley, and I have no personal ill will against her, but I can’t point to any significant conservative accomplishment in her tenure as governor and I have found it difficult to nail down where she stands on positions,” Kimbrell said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I know what she actually did versus what she said she did.”

Kimbrell’s arrival in a state about 1,000 miles from his own further underscores the urgency from DeSantis’ campaign to slow Haley’s encroachment with the January 15 Iowa caucuses less than three weeks away, while he still contends with former President Donald Trump’s enduring support in the Hawkeye State.

Amid the flurry of campaign activity, a closing pitch for DeSantis is also taking shape. In recent interviews and campaign appearances, he has likened himself to a “change agent” — a framing that suggests not only moving on from President Joe Biden, but also from the perceived shortcomings of the Trump era and the so-called establishment Republicans in Washington he claims are pulling for Haley.

In a video his campaign recently released, clips of DeSantis on the campaign trail play over audio from his CNN town hall where he calls for a series of populist measures, including term limits for members of Congress and spreading federal agencies across the country. A source with knowledge of the campaign said DeSantis will continue to articulate that message in the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses.

“I want real, serious structural change,” DeSantis says in the video.

Iowa caucusgoers will ultimately decide whether these efforts are the last gasps of a campaign running out of Hail Marys or the final moments before a resurgence that DeSantis’ most committed supporters and advisers still believe is in the range of outcomes.

But that the Florida governor is in this position at all is indicative of a candidate who failed in 2023 to rise to the lofty expectations set by his commanding 2022 reelection victory and has instead limped to the starting line of a Republican primary he once hoped to be leading by now.

A year ago, DeSantis spent the days after Christmas putting the finishing touches on a second inaugural address intended to reintroduce him to Republicans eager to turn the page on Trump. His political allies, meanwhile, plotted a conservative agenda for the state legislative session that could double as a platform for a presidential campaign. His administration announced an investigation into a holiday drag show performance – a continuation of the cultural battles that would provide fodder for his White House bid.

Now, heading into the final days before New Years, DeSantis is confronting a Republican electorate stubbornly loyal to the former president. His past policy victories haven’t inspired the anticipated groundswell of conservative enthusiasm. And taking on “woke” no longer appears to be a top priority of voters far more focused on international strife, immigration and the economy.

Nor is Trump his only obstacle. After spending months trying to narrow the gap with the former president in Iowa, DeSantis enters the final stretch increasingly focused on the rising threat from Haley as well, forcing the Florida Republican into a two-front battle that has complicated his efforts to turn the Hawkeye State into a springboard toward the nomination.

The pivot toward Haley has come at some cost. In lieu of attacking Trump on television, a super PAC supporting DeSantis’ White House bid, Fight Right, is instead pounding the airwaves with ads targeting Haley’s record as governor. A source with understanding of the super PAC’s strategy said there are currently no plans to run ads against Trump but added that could change.

Haley’s campaign dismissed the arrival of Kimbrell – who was elected to the state Senate in 2020, after she had left office in Columbia – and touted her signing of legislation to enact voter ID laws and crack down on illegal immigration. Kimbrell as a lawmaker has pushed legislation to restrict transgender children from accessing gender affirming care, ban most abortions after six weeks and to prohibit state pension investments based on environment, social, governance considerations – mirroring laws DeSantis has passed in Florida.

“Here’s a quick refresher: Nikki is a conservative outsider who took on the establishment to put votes on the record,” said her campaign spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik, before adding. “It’s sad to see Ron DeSantis stooping to such desperate, lame attacks, but nothing will save his dying campaign.”

Kimbrell and Haley have previous history from when she was governor and he hosted a Christian talk radio show. In 2014, Kimbrell was arrested on a charge of criminal sexual conduct in a case involving his son. The charge, which he said at the time came during a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife, was later dropped for insufficient evidence.

The episode was widely covered by local media and Haley distanced herself from the embattled radio host after previously counting him among her supporters, Kimbrell acknowledged on Wednesday. Asked about his past with Haley, Kimbrell said, “I don’t hold a grudge on something from 10 years ago.”

“I’m more concerned about her inconsistencies in policies,” he said.

Surveys of South Carolina Republicans suggest Kimbrell’s opinion is far from universal in Haley’s home state. While Trump remains ahead of the field there, too, she has consistently polled ahead of DeSantis in South Carolina and 71% of Republicans in the state hold a favorable view of her, according to a November poll from Winthrop University.

Kimbrell is the latest DeSantis ally to join him on the campaign trail amid his December push in the early nominating states. DeSantis and his surrogates, such as US Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, blanketed Iowa before Christmas and will again starting Thursday. In addition to Kimbrell, DeSantis will be joined in Iowa by the state’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who’s endorsed him, for an event Friday in Clayton County. US Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who appeared with DeSantis in Iowa earlier this month, posted on social media that he will visit New Hampshire with DeSantis this weekend.

Additional bodies can help spread the candidate’s message, but aren’t as easily controlled by the campaign. That became apparent recently when Massie shared a view of DeSantis’ chances in Iowa that appeared to contradict the confidence his campaign has publicly projected, telling a McClatchy reporter, “I don’t think they expect to win Iowa – and certainly not New Hampshire.”

“But you can shake things out without winning. You’ve just got to over-perform and show people that their assumptions were wrong,” Massie said.

A super PAC supporting Haley, SFA Inc., immediately seized on Massie’s remarks as “trying to move the goalposts.”

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