Iowa state senator flips endorsement from Trump to DeSantis

An Iowa state senator announced Thursday he was backing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the 2024 presidential primary process, flipping his support from Donald Trump after the former president lashed out at Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R).

“Iowa Republicans must be united if we are going to take our country back and reverse Joe Biden’s failures,” said Jeff Reichman (R), a first-term state senator, in a statement. “Governor DeSantis has achieved the same type of commonsense policy victories in Florida as we have in Iowa under Governor Kim Reynolds, and he will deliver historic success for the conservative movement as president as well.”  

Reichman in March was listed among roughly a dozen Iowa officials who the Trump campaign rolled out as early endorsers of the former president.

Reichman’s support for DeSantis comes as Trump drew criticism from Iowans for his broadside against Reynolds earlier in the week, when he complained about her approach to the 2024 caucuses in her state after she appeared at multiple events with DeSantis.

Reynolds, who coasted to reelection last November, has said she would remain neutral in the 2024 process so all candidates feel welcome to campaign in the state.

Reynolds appeared last week alongside DeSantis’s wife, Casey DeSantis, at the launch of her “Mamas for DeSantis” initiative for the Florida governor’s presidential campaign. She has attended previous events with DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), and she is scheduled to attend a town hall with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in the coming days.

Trump this week also ruffled feathers when he opted to skip a convention in Des Moines hosted by The Family Leader, a major conservative group in Iowa, which will be attended by most other 2024 candidates.

Some Iowa officials were frustrated further by Kari Lake, the former Arizona gubernatorial candidate and a surrogate for Trump, scheduling an event in support of the former president at the same time as Friday’s Family Leader gathering.

The former president is set to attend a town hall in Iowa next week hosted by Fox News’s Sean Hannity.

Polling out of Iowa in recent months has shown Trump with a lead over DeSantis, who is running in second, and strategists have argued any challenger to the former president will need a strong showing in the Hawkeye State to have a chance at winning the nomination.