Campaign

Most Iowa GOP caucusgoers say endorsements don’t affect their votes: Survey

by Miranda Nazzaro - 12/12/23 11:46 AM ET

FILE - A pedestrian walks past a sign for the Iowa Caucuses on a downtown skywalk, in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 4, 2020. Iowa Republicans have scheduled the party’s presidential nominating caucuses for Jan. 15, 2024, putting the first votes of the next election a little more than six months away. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File) — FILE – A pedestrian walks past a sign for the Iowa Caucuses on a downtown skywalk, in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 4, 2020. Iowa Republicans have scheduled the party’s presidential nominating caucuses for Jan. 15, 2024, putting the first votes of the next election a little more than six months away. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

A majority of likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers say high-profile endorsements for presidential candidates do not affect their voting decisions, according to a new survey.

A new poll from Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom, released Monday, found that 54 percent of Republican caucusgoers in the key early-voting state said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ (R) endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the primary does not make a difference in their decision.

About 31 percent said her endorsement makes them more likely to choose DeSantis, while 14 percent said it makes them less likely to vote for the Florida governor.

A larger number, or 73 percent, of likely caucusgoers said influential Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats’s endorsement of DeSantis doesn’t affect how they will vote in the Jan. 15 caucus, while only 13 percent said such endorsement makes them more likely to choose DeSantis and 12 percent said it makes them less likely.

The same trend was seen with Americans for Prosperity’s endorsement of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, with 71 percent of likely GOP caucusgoers in the Hawkeye State saying the endorsement doesn’t make a difference in their choices. Americans for Prosperity is the political wing of the conservative network led by billionaire Charles Koch.

Pollster J. Ann Selzer, who conducted the new poll, said the endorsements of DeSantis and Haley have not hurt former President Trump, who continues to maintain a wide lead over his GOP rivals in Iowa.

The recent poll Trump showed a 32-point lead over DeSantis, with 51 percent of the likely GOP caucusgoers backing the former president, compared to 19 percent who chose DeSantis.

When compared to October’s polling, both Trump and DeSantis saw their support increase, up from 43 percent and 16 percent, respectively.

Haley remained in third place among the candidates, garnering 16 percent of the likely Iowa GOP caucusgoer vote, the same number she picked up in the October poll.

Support for the remaining GOP candidates — biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former South Carolina Gov. Asa Hutchinson — was in the single digits.

The poll’s findings come just weeks ahead of Iowa Republican caucus, which will take place on Jan. 15 and kick off the primary voting season. The caucus has traditionally been first on the calendar, followed by New Hampshire, and often plays a large role in setting the tone for the GOP primary season.

Several GOP presidential candidates have spent a large amount of time on the campaign trail in both Iowa and New Hampshire to secure early votes.

The NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom surveyed 502 likely Republican caucusgoers between Dec. 2-7. It has an overall margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.