Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis ignored final poll results in Iowa ahead of caucus day and said Sunday that his supporters were committed and would go to the polls in subfreezing temperatures.
And he dismissed questions about whether his campaign was headed for disaster after he was predicted to finish in third place on Monday.
This despite betting enormous resources on the state, where he visited each of its 99 counties.
“We’ll do well on Monday,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
‘Our voters are very motivated. “I think it’s very difficult to canvass a caucus period in Iowa.”
Ron DeSantis was on CNN Sunday morning to defend his campaign after the final poll before the Iowa caucuses showed him falling to third place in the crucial state.
The NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll was conducted Jan. 7-12 with 705 likely Republican caucusgoers. Its margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
Republicans will gather in school gyms, classrooms and church halls Monday night to choose their favorite candidate.
It’s the first real test of who is doing better with voters after a year of campaigning.
The outcome can make or break presidential campaigns.
The highly anticipated NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll released Saturday gave Donald Trump a 28-point lead.
And it showed Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, outperforming DeSantis.
That will be a blow to Florida’s governor if it is replicated in Monday’s caucus results.
But there are signs that his vast running game could still have a role to play.
The survey found that his supporters are the most likely to attend that day and the caucus.
Among DeSantis supporters, 62 percent said they will definitely run. The figure drops to 56 percent among Trump supporters and is only 51 percent for Haley.
‘And these are people… they are very motivated. “We’ve spent a lot of time in Iowa because we’ve gone door-to-door to get people to commit to us to caucus,” he said, while dismissing the idea that a bad result could mean the end of his campaign.
DeSantis has a great running game. It will be tested on Monday. Eli Weltman of Never Back Down, an independent group that supports DeSantis, speaks to a voter in Marion on Wednesday.
‘We have a large number of people who have committed to the caucus and we hope these are the people who attend. So there is a lot of excitement on the ground.
“We’re in this for the long haul.”
But it wasn’t supposed to be like this. DeSantis’ conservative and Christian credentials were intended to give him a boost in Iowa and a chance to take on Trump, before the race heads to New Hampshire and its more moderate Republicans.
Haley is challenging Trump there for victory, with DeSantis far behind. A tough loss there after a poor result in Iowa would make it very difficult for him to continue.
DeSantis said he would fight every state.
“My opinion is that if you want to win, you have to compete for every delegate,” he said.
The Iowa caucus format requires voters to show up in person. Bad weather is complicating the entire process and meteorologists are predicting the coldest caucus night in Iowa history, with temperatures as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
The final Iowa poll gave Donald Trump a 28-point lead over second-place Haley. That puts him on track for a record-breaking victory if he comes close to it on Monday.
Trump campaign insiders admit his biggest problem may be complacency as his supporters stay home due to the former president’s seemingly insurmountable lead.
And Saturday’s poll also suggests that Haley’s support may be weak, with much of her support coming from Democrats and independents, who will have to overcome the bureaucratic hurdle of registering as a Republican in order to attend a caucus.
That leaves DeSantis hoping that his big investment can still generate the kind of result that will allow him to continue fighting.
‘We’re telling our followers: Go out, bring some friends and family. “This is going to have a big impact,” he stated.
Commentators said the poll suggested DeSantis was struggling.
“This is a tough poll for Gov. DeSantis, who has bet the house on Iowa,” said Jimmy Centers, a Republican strategist who is not aligned in this race.
‘The good news is that many Iowans are leaving the door open to change their minds or have not yet decided on a candidate.
“But voters generally like to align themselves with a winner or a rising candidate, neither of which appears to be the case.”