Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claimed second place in Iowa's caucuses on Monday evening, narrowly beating out former Ambassador Nikki Haley but trailing Trump by a margin that should make Iowa pollsters proud of their predictions.
"They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us," DeSantis said while addressing supporters in West Des Moines late Monday night. "Because of your support, in spite of all of that that they threw at us, everyone against us, we've got our ticket punched out of Iowa," he proclaimed.
Saying he wants to give America "a new birth of freedom and a restoration of sanity," DeSantis outlined his campaign's "marching orders" to "do all we can to preserve what George Washington called 'the sacred fire of liberty.'"
Decision Desk HQ projects Ron DeSantis finishes in second place in the Iowa Republican Caucuses. Nikki Haley is projected to finish in third place.#DecisionMade: 11:01pm ET
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) January 16, 2024
Follow more results here: https://t.co/FeAlhRkfNC pic.twitter.com/pwGsiJwh3G
Despite successfully denying Nikki Haley some momentum heading into New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary later this month, the DeSantis campaign was not pleased with the result or, more specifically, how they believe it came about.
Multiple campaign aides, allies, and surrogates alleged "election interference" after every decision desk (including Townhall's election results partner DecisionDeskHQ) called Iowa for Trump within 45 minutes of the caucuses' 7:00 p.m. CT start time.
The final totals proved the call correct, but the DeSantis camp didn't back down from their claims that the race call by "corporate media" had affected the outcome. Still, DeSantis isn't going anywhere according to his campaign that said the Florida governor "earned his ticket out of Iowa" on Monday night.
NEW: Statement from senior @RonDeSantis campaign official to @FoxNews:
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 16, 2024
"They threw everything at Ron DeSantis. They couldn’t kill him. He is not only still standing, but he’s now earned his ticket out of Iowa. This is going to be a long battle ahead, but that is what this…
Notably, DeSantis did well with young Republicans in Iowa, prompting praise from Team DeSantis for "the kids" who participated in the caucuses.
At least the kids are all right 😁 pic.twitter.com/AegW01Dd47
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) January 16, 2024
Following Monday's first contest of 2024, DeSantis will make an appearance in Nikki Haley's backyard on Tuesday morning near the Greenville Downtown Airport in South Carolina before heading north for an evening town hall event at a senior center in Claremont, New Hampshire. Wednesday will see DeSantis hold additional events in the Granite State, first a morning town hall stop at a bar and grill in Jackson and then an early afternoon visit at another restaurant in Hampton.
The next contest on the calendar is New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary on January 23, though DeSantis (with 6.5 percent) is lagging behind former President Donald Trump (43.5 percent), former Ambassador Nikki Haley (29.3 percent), and since-withdrawn former Governor Chris Christie (11.3 percent) according to the RealClearPolitics average of Granite State polls from January 3 to January 10.
After New Hampshire comes South Carolina on February 24. In the Palmetto State, Florida's governor sits at 11 percent in third place behind Haley's 21.8 percent and Trump's 52 percent according to RCP's South Carolina average of polls from October 18 to January 3.