Ron DeSantis takes second place in Iowa Republican caucuses

VPM | By Clay Masters

Published January 16, 2024 at 4:19 AM EST

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at his caucus night event on January 15, 2024 in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Follow NPR’s liveblog for Iowa caucus updates, analysis and results.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has placed second in the Iowa Republican caucuses, according to a race call by The Associated Press.

Trump, who took an early win Monday night, solidified the commanding lead he’s had in Iowa for the last year.

DeSantis went all in on Iowa and leaned heavily on a traditional ground game — campaigning in all of the state’s 99 counties. He also picked up the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and evangelical Christian leader Bob Vander Plaats, who endorsed the last three Republican Iowa caucus winners.

live updates wide 82c3eac3e2d829bf2c2fe7ccce2a1d7baa01c0fe — / NPR

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But it wasn’t enough to overtake Trump’s support in the state.

The DeSantis campaign faces an even tougher contest in New Hampshire, where he’s been trailing both Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for the last month.

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Clay Masters

Clay Masters is Iowa Public Radio’s Morning Edition host and lead political reporter. He was part of a team of member station political reporters who covered the 2016 presidential race for NPR. He also covers environmental issues.

Clay joined the Iowa Public Radio newsroom as a statehouse correspondent in 2012 and started hosting Morning Edition in 2014. Clay is an award-winning multi-media journalist whose radio stories have been heard on various NPR and American Public Media programs.

He was one of the founding reporters of Harvest Public Media, the regional journalism consortium covering agriculture and food production in the Midwest. He was based in Lincoln, Nebraska where he worked for Nebraska’s statewide public radio and television network.

He’s also an occasional music contributor to NPR’s arts desk.

Clay’s favorite NPR program is All Things Considered.

See stories by Clay Masters