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Many Republicans here love former President Donald Trump, but his legal troubles have them eyeing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a top alternative in the upcoming GOP caucus.
While Mr. Trump is ahead of Mr. DeSantis by more than 20 points in Iowa polls, his loyal supporters aren’t sure he’ll remain a free man if criminal charges are brought against him in several ongoing investigations.
“They’re going to put Trump in jail,” said Stan Gregory, who came to hear Mr. DeSantis speak Wednesday at the Wagon Wheel, an event venue in Council Bluffs in the state’s southwestern quadrant.
“I’m still with Trump,” Mr. Gregory said.
But he also told The Washington Times he’s ready to vote for Mr. DeSantis if Mr. Trump becomes incapacitated by his legal entanglements, which he believes are politically motivated attacks.
Susan Trede, who drove from nearby Treynor to see Mr. DeSantis, said she voted for Mr. Trump twice in the general election but the prospect of criminal charges against him and his unyielding claims of 2020 election fraud is steering her toward the Florida governor.
“Trump kind of wore out his welcome, as far as I was concerned, when he didn’t give up on the election,” she said. “And I just think we need to look in other directions. I’m pretty certain it’s DeSantis.”
Mr. DeSantis is the only GOP candidate other than Mr. Trump who scores in the double digits among Iowa’s Republican voters. But he trails Mr. Trump here by more than 20 points and most veteran political observers predict it will be difficult for him to significantly shrink Mr. Trump’s double-digit advantage.
There’s a catch. The former president faces an unprecedented threat of becoming sidelined by federal and state prosecutors.
“DeSantis has a real opportunity if Trump’s legal problems take him out,” a top Iowa Republican official who requested anonymity told The Times.
