In the midst of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's frantic efforts to boost his faltering campaign for the presidential nomination, he has spent more than any of his rivals on recruiting a powerful Christian conservative leader and his supporters in Iowa.
DeSantis Is Putting Money Into Iowa
DeSantis and his advisers are investing in Iowa ahead of the Republican conventions on January 15 to slow down former President Donald Trump's momentum. DeSantis is currently far behind Trump in national polls and has been plagued by turmoil in his campaign. This move relies heavily on winning over Christian voters in the state.
In a report by Reuters, Iowa-based organization Family Leader Foundation led by evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats received $95,000 in recent months from the DeSantis campaign, a super PAC affiliated with him, and a nonprofit entity supporting him.
DeSantis and his allies spent that much to get their message heard by 2,000 Christian conservatives at a meeting last July. In exchange for their financial support, they were given access to the summit, lunch, and an evening event.
According to three campaign finance experts and a scholar who monitors Iowa campaign expenditure, Vander Plaats' support is highly sought after in the early voting state. Although, the true value may be more in developing a connection with him.
Vander Plaats and his organization are at the forefront of Iowa's Christian conservative movement, which has significant clout in the state's legislature.
Essential Boost for Faltering Campaign
The pressure is on for DeSantis and his staff to pull off a surprise win in Iowa and give their sputtering campaign a much-needed boost before heading to the more unfriendly states on the Republican primary calendar, such as New Hampshire and Nevada.
According to Reuters, the DeSantis campaign paid $25,000 to the Vander Plaats group for an advertisement in a commemorative booklet given at the event and an invitation to a special after-event dinner with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. A political charity that supports DeSantis, And To The Republic, agreed to purchase a table at the dinner for $20,000.
Meanwhile, according to the document and the organization's filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Never Back Down spent $50,000 on a two-page advertising and dinner tickets.
Steffen Schmidt, an emeritus professor of political science at Iowa State University who researches political expenditure in the state, said that this was a far larger sum than is generally awarded in Iowa. He remarked that the sum was excessive for the one-time benefit of the booklet and the little amount of publicity it would get.
Vander Plaats defended the cost, saying it was not even close to "exorbitant" for the opportunity to advertise in front of over 2,000 engaged grassroots activists at a meeting that garnered substantial national political attention.
