While Republicans seeking the party’s 2024 presidential nomination make their final push ahead of the critical Jan. 15 Iowa caucus, hazardous winter weather across the state has forced some of them to change their campaign plans.
As of Tuesday morning, much of Iowa remains under a winter storm warning after heavy snow and strong winds began on Monday. The warning is in effect until Tuesday evening for most of Iowa, with snow accumulation ranging from 2 to 3 inches over the state’s northern portion to 8 to 9 inches toward the southeast.
“As winds increase this morning and gusts up to 40 to 45 mph develop with the falling snow, blowing and drifting snow and reduced visibility will be a concern, particularly in open and rural areas,” the National Weather Service (NWS) in Des Moines advised.
“While the snow will end, the blowing snow and impacts from the event will linger longer and it is probable that the evening commute while improved from the morning, will not be normal winter travel conditions,” it added.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has canceled planned appearances of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckbee Sanders and her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, after weather prevented them from flying to Iowa to court voters on behalf of the nation’s top Republican. A Trump campaign scheduled for the evening of Jan. 9 feature former Acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker has also been indefinitely postponed.
“The Governor is proud to support President Trump and contrast his successes against Biden’s failures,” a spokesperson for Ms. Sanders’s office said on Monday in a statement. Ms. Sanders, who spent almost two years as White House press secretary under President Trump, in November endorsed her former boss’s bid for a second term.
“While she is disappointed weather prevented her from being in Iowa today, she is looking forward to begin on the trail again soon.”
Mr. Huckabee, who also had planned to campaign for President Trump ahead of the kick-off caucus, said on Sunday that his flight was called off.
Trump Says Bad Weather Helps Him
President Trump has expressed concern about the frigid weather forecast on Caucus Night, but said one of his staffers told him that wintry conditions might give him an advantage.The staffer said that President Trump’s supporters are too dedicated to allow foul weather to deter them from going to the caucuses, President Trump told a crowd in Newton, Iowa, on Jan. 5, adding that the same cannot be said about his challengers’ fans.
“My people will walk on glass—they don’t care ... right?” he said, as his rally audience shouted in agreement and many people rose to their feet.
“We love bad weather, because the weather’s not going to keep our people away,” President Trump said.
He reported that his staffer had said: “The worse, the better. We won’t lose one vote.”
President Trump said the prosecutions targeting him are backfiring, fueling “enthusiasm like we’ve never had before.”
The campaign of former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley has also canceled an event scheduled for Monday in Sioux City, Iowa because of snow. The move was mocked by rival Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who hosted an event in the same city later that day.
“Nikki Haley cancelled her events in Sioux City, Iowa to ‘avoid embarrassment.” I’m headed to Sioux City for our event right now,“ Mr. Ramaswamy posted on X. ”We’re not cancelling. Four events in northwest Iowa, keeping them intact. If you can’t handle the snow, you can’t handle Xi Jinping.”
On Tuesday, however, Mr. Ramaswamy announced on social media that his campaign was postponing an event in Coralville, Iowa, citing weather conditions that he said would make it “effectively impossible to safely get from Des Moines to Coralville.”
Later in the morning, the Ramaswamy campaign released on updated schedule that no longer included previously scheduled campaign stops in Burlington, Iowa, and Keokuk, Iowa.
More Frigid Weather Expected for Caucus Week
According to weeklong forecast by the NWS, snow is expected to continue over the next few days in the area around Des Moines, with temperatures potentially reaching a high of just 2 degrees and a low around minus 10 at night for Jan. 14, the day before the caucus.For the caucus night, much of the state is expected to see similar subzero temperatures.
Despite the harsh temperatures, the state Republican Party said it expects participation in this year’s caucus to be at a level similar to 2016, which saw a record-breaking number of over 186,000 Republicans voting for their preferred presidential candidate.
Speaking to reporters on Monday in Des Moines, Iowa Republican Party Chair Jeff Kaufmann said that although the weather could get in the way of setting a new record, he still expects voters to brave the cold and produce “a robust turnout” on caucus night.
“If there’s not a severe ice storm, I don’t think cold keeps people away,” Mr. Kaufmann said, admitting that the weather “could prevent a record-breaking turnout.”
“It’s going to go on, no matter what,” he told the reporters. “I’m putting the faith in people’s passion to get there.”
