DeSantis lands endorsement from influential Iowa evangelical leader in race for GOP nomination

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DeSantis discusses impact of an endorsement from Iowa evangelical Bob Vander Plaats

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says that the endorsement from influential Iowa social conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats, as well as the recent backing from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, amounts to ‘a pretty powerful machine’.

The influential evangelical leader of a top social conservative organization in Iowa endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday.

Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader organization, announced his personal endorsement of DeSantis in an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News' "Special Report."

"We need to find somebody who can win in 2024," Vander Plaats said, pointing to the 2022 midterms, where an anticipated "red wave" never materialized for most of the country. DeSantis, however, won re-election in Florida by a wide margin.

Vander Plaats praised DeSantis as "bold and courageous" as he announced his endorsement, which was widely expected.

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Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramawamy and Nikki Haley join The Family Leader president and CEO Bob Vander Plaats at a candidate forum in Des Moines, Iowa, on Nov. 17, 2023. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

"We’re hopeful that we’re able to secure that endorsement," DeSantis told reporters hours earlier, during the first of two campaign stops in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP nominating schedule, after Iowa's lead-off caucuses.

The Florida governor, along with 2024 GOP White House rivals, former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, appeared with Vander Plaats on Friday at a Family Leader presidential forum in Des Moines, Iowa.

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"I think that if you saw that Family Leader forum, clearly his folks there gravitated to me. I don’t think there’s any question about that. We have a good relationship," DeSantis said.

Vander Plaats shared in his Fox News Channel interview that at last Friday’s Thanksgiving Family Forum, he [DeSantis] closed the sale on me."

"He was very clear about, we need a president who can serve two terms, not one. We don’t need a president that’s going to be a lame duck on day one," Vander Plaats highlighted.

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Former President Donald Trump, the commanding front-runner for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, was invited but declined to attend the forum. Trump also skipped a similar presidential forum hosted by the Family Leader in July.

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Vander Plaats, who has long had a rocky relationship with Trump and who has argued that it is time for new conservative leadership, said the former president's "absence communicates a lot to our base."

"There’s definitely a shot that the former president can be beat here," Vander Plaats told Fox News Digital in an interview last week.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (AP Photo/Bryon Houlgrave)

Pointing to Vander Plaats, DeSantis on Tuesday noted, "Bob has been somebody that’s been very vocal that Donald Trump is not going to be the way forward, not going to be able to get the job done, particularly as a lame duck president."

In a major boost for DeSantis – who has staked his campaign on winning in Iowa — the Florida governor landed the endorsement earlier this month of Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is very popular among Hawkeye State Republicans. Reynolds' backing helped DeSantis alter a negative narrative.

Vander Plaats, who has repeatedly showered praise on DeSantis this year, told Fox News last week that the Reynolds endorsement of the Florida governor "will weigh in on my discernment. But that won’t make my endorsement." 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, hosted by the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down, on Nov. 21, 2023. (Fox  News - Paul Steinhauser)

DeSantis, pointing to the backing from Iowa's governor, numerous state lawmakers and officials, and the probability of a Vander Plaats endorsement, highlighted that "to have so many members of the Iowa legislature, to have the governor, and then to have Bob and his network. That’s going to be a pretty powerful machine and we’re going to turn all that on. Or they’ll turn that on. And we’re going to go there and do that."

DeSantis predicted "that these first two states are going to totally upend the conventional wisdom." 

Taking a shot at some of his rivals, DeSantis argued that Republican primary voters "certainly don’t want to fall in line behind an establishment candidate who’s not going to be able to make any big changes. And I think that’s true for most of the people who are running against us in the primary."

Vander Plaats is a top social conservative leader in a state where evangelical voters play an outsized role in Republican politics. Vander Plaats backed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in 2012, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in 2016 – all three of whom went on to win the Iowa caucuses, but failed to capture the GOP presidential nomination.

Trump's campaign, reacting to the latest development, argued that "Kim Reynolds’ endorsement won’t save Ron DeSanctus, and neither will Vander Plaat$’ endorsement."

And in a preemptive strike last week, Trump's political allies also dismissed the importance of a Vander Plaats endorsement.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arrives at the Family Leader's Thanksgiving Family Forum, Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A recent memo from veteran Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who among other things conducts surveys for the Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., argued that a Vander Plaats endorsement would have "no significant impact" on the caucuses.

Pointing to polling he conducted in September, Fabrizio charged that "while the DeSantis camp will try and spin that a Vander Plaats endorsement will revive their sputtering and shrinking campaign, cold hard data tells a much different story." 

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When asked about the criticism, Vander Plaats told Fox News that "my endorsement means one vote. Beyond that, we’ll see what happens."

However, he added, "I think their obsession with my endorsement probably would indicate that they’re more fearful of it than they should be."

The Democratic National Committee described Vander Plaats as a "far-right extremist" and argued that his endorsement "is the ultimate kiss of death for Ron DeSantis’ sinking campaign and guarantees DeSantis will never be the Republican nominee."

"Vander Plaats’ endorsement should come as no surprise – both he and DeSantis share the same desire to ban abortion and rip away freedoms from millions of women," DNC national press secretary Sarafina Chitika charged in a statement.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks at a town hall in Newton, Iowa, on Nov. 17, 2023. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

A couple of hours before Friday's Family Leader presidential forum in Des Moines, Haley landed a surprise endorsement from another social conservative leader in Iowa.

As Haley was taking questions from the audience at a town hall in Newton, Iowa, Marlys Popma, the former Iowa GOP executive director and former president of the Iowa Right to Life, stood to speak.

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"I was an undecided voter when I walked in here today, and I am no longer an undecided voter," Popma said, as many in the crowd applauded. "I just want to tell Nikki that I wholeheartedly support you."

The big question going forward is whether the Reynolds and Vander Plaats endorsements of DeSantis, and the surprise backing of Haley by Popma, can make a dent in Trump's commanding lead over the rest of the field.

Nicole Schlinger, a longtime Iowa-based strategist with close ties to evangelicals, argued that endorsements only go so far.

"I think what matters more to Iowa caucus goers than anything is meeting with the candidates and getting their questions answered about their policy positions," she told Fox News. "Endorsements, whether it’s the governor or Bob Vander Plaats, can shine a light on the campaign, and then it’s up to the candidate to seal the deal."

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.