Ron DeSantis eyes Kim Reynolds endorsement as ‘huge get’ in Iowa

Kim Reynolds, Ron DeSantis. Image via AP.

Ron DeSantis is trailing in Iowa polls, but he still believes the endorsement of the Hawkeye State Governor would be a “huge get” for his struggling presidential campaign.

In a call with Iowa reporters, DeSantis again extolled Kim Reynolds, saying that he’d “love” to have that endorsement.

“Obviously, I would love to have her support, formal support. I think it would be very, very meaningful. I think what she’s been able to do in Iowa has really been a model for how people should govern,” DeSantis said, before offering familiar ruminations about how “happy” Iowans tell him they are with her approach to leading the state.

DeSantis’ courtship of Reynolds’ “formal support” has been a running theme of his campaign, and even the book tour that functioned as a pre-campaign ahead of his formal launch.

In July, DeSantis attempted to capitalize on seeming antipathy from front-runner Donald Trump toward Reynolds, calling her a “a strong leader who knows how to ignore the chirping and get it done” who “earned a landslide re-election because she delivered big results.”

Even before formally launching, DeSantis held an Iowa book tour stop in March.

He called Reynolds “America’s Governor” amid mutually admiring remarks.

“This guy is a man on a mission,” Reynolds said at the time.

Ironically, DeSantis seemed like a more sure bet for the Republican nomination during the book tour than he does now. When he went to Iowa last winter, a Des Moines Register poll showed a dead heat between Trump and him.

Fast forward to today, and polling tells a different tale.

The latest Iowa State University/Civiqs poll, the most recent poll of this race and one that was taken earlier this month, shows DeSantis at 17% and Trump at 58%.

Iowa’s 40 delegates will be doled out on a proportional basis after the Jan. 15 caucus results are finalized.