The severe blizzard that swept across Iowa on Friday has put a chill on the 2024 Republican presidential race, causing candidates to scale back their campaign schedules and raising concerns about voter turnout in the face of record-breaking cold temperatures.
Former President Donald Trump has significantly reduced his Iowa campaign activities for the weekend, cancelling three out of four planned rallies and opting for telephonic events instead. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who are reportedly vying for second place according to recent polls, also cancelled their campaign events scheduled for Friday.
As a brutal Arctic blast engulfs the central United States, Iowa is bracing for its coldest ever caucuses and its chilliest January day in at least half a decade this Monday. The forecast predicts subzero temperatures and wind chills plummeting to as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
With the weekend traditionally packed with candidates crisscrossing Iowa, it remains uncertain whether the 2024 contenders will be able to hold campaign events at all, or if voters will brave the freezing conditions to attend them. The extreme weather has left Republican presidential hopefuls and their teams pondering who will show up to the caucuses and what their campaigns can do in the interim.
“I definitely know I’m not in South Carolina anymore. It is beyond cold,” Haley said during a tele-town hall, addressing voters over the phone who she’d planned to meet in person in Fort Dodge. She encouraged those on the call to dress warmly on Monday night, in case of outdoor lines. “I know it’s asking a lot of you to go out and caucus, but I also know we have a country to save. And I will be out there in the cold, and I know Iowans take this in a very serious way,” Haley added.
DeSantis, speaking at his Urbandale campaign headquarters alongside Texas Rep. Chip Roy, expressed uncertainty about whether the extreme cold will work in his favor or against him on Monday night. “Nobody can forecast what the turnout is going to be. Anyone that tells you they can do that is not being honest. It’s a major wildcard,” DeSantis said on Friday.
DeSantis’ campaign and his super PAC, which has played an unprecedented role in organizing for DeSantis in the early-voting states, could play an especially important role, he said. “The reason why you do an organization is because something like this can happen,” DeSantis said. “There’s a machinery that goes with a caucus, no matter what, but especially now with what the weather’s gonna be like.”
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson had to cancel an Iowa City meet-and-greet on Friday night due to the brewery hosting the event closing because of the weather. Instead, he attended Cinch World’s Toughest Rodeo in Des Moines.
Trump’s campaign maintained a Sunday event in Indianola on his weekend schedule. However, plans for Saturday in Sioux City and Atlantic, and Sunday in Cherokee were cancelled due to the harsh weather conditions. Sioux City, for instance, declared a snow emergency and banned parking on downtown streets — including near the theater where Trump’s campaign had scheduled a rally.
Despite the challenging weather, Trump’s aides expressed confidence that low-turnout caucuses wouldn’t significantly affect the race. “I will reject any assertion by any campaigns that bad turnout is going to impact one campaign or the other,” top Trump aide Chris LaCivita told reporters on Friday. He highlighted the Trump campaign’s organizational efforts and said that for Trump, who polls have consistently shown with a massive lead in Iowa, “the pool of people we have is so much larger.”
This story has been updated with additional information. CNN’s Ebony Davis, Veronica Stracqualursi, Kit Maher, Kate Sullivan and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.