DES MOINES, Iowa — Neighborhood streets remain icy and temperatures didn’t get above zero, but presidential campaigns began to kick back into high gear Sunday after this week’s winter storm.
Hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump’s comeback campaign packed a room at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, despite the outside temperature hovering at -10 degrees. About two hundred more watched the rally from an overflow room.
“The caucuses are your personal chance to score the ultimate victory over all of the liars, cheaters, thugs, perverts, frauds, crooks, freaks, creeps, and other quite nice people,” Trump told the crowd.
The candidates and their surrogates, including many from Georgia, spent Sunday scrambling to build and maintain support heading into Monday night’s caucuses.
The final Des Moines Register/NBC poll showed Trump still holding a big lead, with Nikki Haley, the former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina governor, in second place, slightly ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But the effect of the historically cold and windy conditions on turnout remains a worry for all the candidates.
In Indianola, Trump said his supporters cannot allow polls showing him well ahead of the competition to make them complacent. They must show up despite forecasts of a wind chill making the temperature feel like it’s -45 degrees, he said.
A closing rally for Trump on Monday will feature a roster of over a dozen speakers including a trio of Georgia lawmakers: U.S. Reps. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens; Mike Collins, R-Jackson; and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome.
Greene, who has made at least five trips to Iowa since Trump announced his plan to run again, has become one of his most frequent and high-profile surrogates. She will end the day Monday speaking on Trump’s behalf at one of the caucus meetings in Des Moines.
The lingering effects of the winter storm still made for a relatively quiet day on Sunday. Candidates limited the number of rallies and public events with winter weather and travel advisories still in place and piles of snow all around.
Still, there were signs that the campaigns were thawing out.
U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick and Karen DeSantis, mother of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, were among the volunteers who braved the freezing weather to knock on doors in Des Moines. McCormick, a Republican who lives in Suwanee, is one of just five members of Congress to back DeSantis over front-runner Trump.
McCormick said he felt it was important to travel to Iowa to stump for his candidate, even if that meant a quick trip to the store to purchase a scarf and gloves to help withstand the frigid temperatures.
“He has grown his economy, he has grown the population and he has shown the real benefit of conservative values in education, in crime, in debt and energy,” McCormick said. “I think he’s been very successful, and that’s why I support the governor.”
Georgia Rep. Scott Hilton was among a group of Georgians who bundled up to knock on doors for Haley in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday. Afterward, the group helped the campaign set up for a rally in east Iowa.
Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners, and others then spent their evening at a University of Iowa women’s basketball game. They waived “Pick Nikki” campaign signs at the crowd.
It’s not just elected officials and surrogates who made the trip from Georgia to Iowa. Two teachers at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta brought a group of high school seniors to experience the caucuses first-hand.
John Monahan, who brought the group to Iowa with colleague Ellen Vesey as part of their class on the political process, called the chance for the students to travel to Iowa “a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity” that he hopes will open their minds about careers in politics.
“When you look around, so many of these staffers are barely five years older than they are, so it was just the ultimate learning opportunity,” he said. “I’ve also never been here before. And so for me, I was like, ‘Is this really happening?’”
The group attended a rally for DeSantis on Friday in West Des Moines. Events for Trump, Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy are also on their itinerary.
“We’ve obviously had exposure to them already in the media and through their interviews or debates, but seeing them in person is just a different experience for all of us,” said Bobby, a senior at Westminster. The school asked that the students’ last names be withheld for privacy reasons.
The chance to go to Iowa in January may not entice most teenagers, but Peter, also a senior, said the trip to the caucuses is the reason he wanted to take the class.
“I had no understanding of campaigns and elections,” he said. “So, I just wanted to be more informed and I thought going was the best way to do that.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Tia Mitchell, columnist Patricia Murphy and photographer Hyosub Shin are braving the cold in Iowa to cover Monday’s Republican caucuses. Follow their coverage on AJC.com/politics, and follow them on X: Mitchell at @ajconwashington, Murphy at @MurphyAJC and Shin at @ilovefoto
