DES MOINES, Iowa – Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has picked up 50 new endorsements from pastors and faith leaders across Iowa, bringing him to more than 150 total, The Post has learned.
The new supporters arrive in the final stretch before Monday’s Iowa caucuses, where the Florida governor seeks to defeat GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
All of the new backers plan to form a group for DeSantis.
Religious support is especially important in Iowa, where strong evangelical support led Ted Cruz to victory in 2016 over Trump while he and Desantis have been competing to court evangelical voters.
In the days before the caucus, Trump highlighted his role in protecting pro-life policies, saying he was president when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Last week, the Trump campaign announced that the former president had garnered more than 300 endorsements from faith leaders in all 99 Iowa counties, surpassing DeSantis.
The governor, who is Catholic, has stressed his support from Iowa religious leaders in a bid to turn the tide against his Florida counterpart, Trump, 77, who is 35 points ahead of him in polls in the state. from Hawkeye.
DeSantis, 45, launched his Faith and Freedom Coalition in September to promote his “God over government” message and spread his policies defending religious freedom.
On Friday, DeSantis told reporters that he still plans to win the Iowa caucuses, urging voters to turn out to vote despite the weather. AP
The new sponsors argued that DeSantis is a “true man of unwavering faith and defender of religious liberty” and has convictions “based on principles of faith and a Christian worldview.”
“Other candidates talk, but Ron DeSantis is a true man of unwavering faith and defender of religious freedom who we can trust to unite our nation and revive America. I will be honored to support him on caucus night and encourage my fellow Iowans to do the same,” said Pastor Jeff Moes of Sunnybrook Community Church in Woodbury.
DeSantis has also earned the endorsement of evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, who has campaigned with him throughout Iowa and urged voters to go out and defeat Trump.
On Thursday, Vander Plaats predicted that DeSantis would win the Iowa caucuses, but only with the “help” of Iowa voters.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to an audience member at a Northside Conservative Club meeting at The District in Ankeny, Iowa, on Friday. AP
Her rival Nikki Haley, 51, has been less aggressive in courting religious leaders and has taken a more middle-of-the-road approach to abortion.
The former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor has said she is “unreservedly pro-life” but that abortion has been too politicized.
“Democrats instilled fear in women about abortion, and Republicans have used their discretion,” Haley said in Wednesday’s debate on CNN. “This is too personal a topic to generate fear or judgment. Our goal should be: how do we save as many babies as possible and support as many moms as possible? That’s what we’ll focus on. We are not going to demonize this issue any further. “We are no longer going to play politics with this issue.”
The number of religious endorsements does not equate to a one-to-one ratio of who will go to the polls, but it does indicate general trends, Rutgers University political history professor David Greenberg told The Post.
“It’s probably safe to assume that this reflects some general popularity among evangelical voters, who are a major force in the Iowa Republican caucuses,” Greenberg said.
According to the RealClearPolitics average, Trump is polling at 53%, beating Haley (17.8%) and DeSantis (15.5%).
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