How important is winning the Iowa caucus to the general election?
- Top GOP candidates are making last-minute appeals to Iowa voters
- While important, the Iowa caucus hasn't always predicted party winners
- Trump has maintained a strong lead over the Republican candidate pool
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(NewsNation) — The top Republican 2024 candidates are campaigning across Iowa, selling their message and brand to voters ahead of the all-important caucuses. But how important is the Iowa caucus in securing the party’s nomination?
Looking at the history of Iowa caucuses, a win in the state does not lead to becoming the Republican nominee as often as one may think.
The last Iowa winner to reach the White House was George W. Bush in 2000. In 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz won Iowa before Donald Trump shocked the nation by winning the general election.
With the Iowa caucus eight days away, the GOP candidates are busy making last-minute appeals to voters. Before the caucus, most of the candidates will participate in the last primary debate. Trump, who is dominating the field in the polls, will be sitting the debate out once again.
Instead, Trump will speak with voters at a televised town hall in Des Moines during the same time as the debate Wednesday.
He is relying on conservatives like Sarah Sanders, Mike Huckabee Roseanne Barr and Ben Carson to campaign on his behalf throughout the week before hosting four rallies over the weekend, leading up to the caucuses.
“We will fight for America like no one has ever fought before. 2024 is our final battle,” Trump said.
With Trump opting out of Wednesday’s debate, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be fighting for center stage.
“The battle right now in Iowa is for second place. I think anyone who looks at the numbers would agree with you,” said David Oman, former co-chair of the Iowa Republican party.
Haley’s campaign team is giving her time to prepare both for the upcoming debate and another town hall on women’s issues, spending less time engaging one-on-one with voters on the ground. Meanwhile, DeSantis will also be participating in a women’s focused town hall the day after Haley.
DeSantis also plans to host a series of campaign events in Iowa before the weekend, with a mid-week stop in his home state of Florida.
At recent events, Haley and DeSantis have been focusing their efforts on attacking Trump rather than each other, accusing him of flip-flopping on abortion and failing to deliver on campaign promises.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also has a busy campaign schedule in Iowa. He is looking to take attention from the debate as well, hosting a town hall with podcast host Tim Pool.
