Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma said during an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation that he thinks GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is going to “shock the world” at the Iowa caucuses next month.
With just over three weeks to go before voters weigh in at the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15, former President Donald Trump was well in the lead with 51.3 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics polling averages.
DeSantis was in second place at 18.6 percent, followed by former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 16.1 percent.
The Florida governor’s team has been putting significant effort into the ground game in the state, however.
Stitt, who endorsed DeSantis in June, joined him at several events on Wednesday and Thursday.
He told the DCNF that he’s “excited” for January despite the polling.
“I think DeSantis is going to shock the world here and it’s going to be exciting to see,” Stitt said. “I wouldn’t worry about polls. It’s all about what’s going to happen on Jan. 15 in Iowa.”
The Oklahoma governor said Iowa voters are “lucky” to have the chance to “shape” who will win the 2024 GOP nomination.
Will DeSantis win in Iowa?
“What I’ve been telling Iowans on the ground is the whole world is watching you,” Stitt said. “I mean, Oklahoma, is watching Iowa. You guys are so lucky. You get to vet all these candidates and help determine and shape who you think is the best person for our country.”
WATCH: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt goes off on why RON DESANTIS is the leader we need to get the job done in the White House 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DCQxj5mszb
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) December 21, 2023
Stitt also argued that polling has not always been an accurate portrayal of past elections. He noted that during his own re-election campaign, polls had shown him occasionally even losing the race to Democrat Joy Hofmeister, whom he eventually beat by more than 13 percentage points.
“I think people are so disappointed with polling and who’s pushing those polls,” he told the DCNF.
DeSantis also has secured significant endorsements from Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Bob Vander Plaats, president of The FAMiLY Leader, a Christian nonprofit in Iowa, and he completed one of his early campaign promises in December to visit all 99 counties in the state.
Voters who spoke to the DCNF at campaign events said they thought most Iowans were still trying to decide who to cast their ballot for and admitted that they weren’t convinced the polling was accurate.
It is a “clear choice” that a Republican president for eight years is much better than one with only four years, Stitt told the DCNF, pointing out an advantage DeSantis would have.
The governor also said all the “turmoil and lawsuits” surrounding Trump would completely overshadow a second term for him in the White House and that the country needs a “fresh slate.”
“We’d be there for eight years,” Stitt said. “It’d be amazing … You get all the conservative policies without any of the baggage really and so for me, that’s the biggest thing, somebody who can be there for eight years and somebody that will not back down.”
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