Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is preparing to drop $2 million on an ad campaign in Iowa, beginning in mid-November and running all the way through to the state's historic caucuses in January, according to NBC News.
The move will make DeSantis' campaign the first among those vying for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination to reserve airtime in Iowa during the caucuses and reveals how important the Hawkeye State is to his Oval Office aspirations.
It was announced last week that the campaign is also shifting its human resources, with a third of DeSantis campaign staffers set to relocate to Iowa from Tallahassee, Florida.
The Iowa spend is also an attempt by DeSantis to halt former President Donald Trump's gathering momentum, heading into next year's election.
According to NBC, the DeSantis campaign entered October with $5 million in cash on hand to spend on the primary, making the new ad buy a substantial expenditure given the available budget. DeSantis raised $15 million across several different entities in the third quarter, but some of the money cannot be spent on the primary.
DeSantis campaign officials told NBC that the Iowa media campaign is a chance to project confidence to donors and supporters and will hopefully help dispel rumors that the Florida governor is ending his candidacy.
"We are in this for the long haul, and this media buy is another demonstration to early-state voters that we are going to aggressively work to earn their support," DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier said.
David Polyansky, DeSantis' deputy campaign manager, told the outlet that the Iowa ad buy "is just the start."
"We're playing to win in Iowa, then on to New Hampshire, and we will have the resources needed to get the job done," he said.
Though public polling averages still have DeSantis trailing Trump by about 30 points, the polls also show that Iowa is the campaign's best chance of stopping Trump from steamrolling the competition on his way to collect the Republican nomination. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has risen to second place in recent polls in both New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Polyansky told NBC that the campaign's goal "isn't to compete with the former president on a press release about finances or argue about a nonexistent national primary. Rather, our goal has always been to put him on the defensive in Iowa."
The strategy is already working, the DeSantis campaign said, pointing to Trump's increased presence in Iowa and the $5 million his super PAC has spent to date in the cycle.
"Now we've proven our ability to regroup, raise the resources we need, and build the organization prepared to compete to win in Iowa and then take the fight straight to New Hampshire and beyond," Uthmeier said.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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