Prolonged freezing temperatures, combined with strong winds, foreshadow possibly life-threatening conditions on the night that Republican voters will gather to make their pick for their 2024 nominee.
Campaign events have continued to fall as swiftly as the Iowa snow as wintry weather hampers the leadoff GOP caucus state, with Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump all shuffling their schedules ahead of Monday’s presidential votes.
Prolonged freezing temperatures, combined with strong winds, foreshadow possibly life-threatening conditions on the night that Republican voters are set to gather to make their pick for their 2024 nominee.
Iowans are accustomed to the cold, though the latest winter wave, combined with temperatures that threaten to dip deeper into negative territory in the coming days, could mean unprecedented conditions for caucus night itself. Early into next week, forecasters said significant winds would make things feel as cold as 45 degrees below zero, a record-breaking forecast that could keep potential voters at home.
“This is kind of what it means to live in Iowa, in the middle of winter, but two snowstorms back-to-back feels like a little much,” said Jillian McKee, of Des Moines, as she walked her Shiba Inu named Bear on Friday morning in the pouring snow. “Usually, I’m just used to one a week.”
McKee said she still plans to show up on Monday night and is leaning toward caucusing for Haley.
Haley pulled down a trio of events that had been slated for Friday in central and eastern areas of the state, shifting them instead to tele-town halls at which, unlike her in-person events held earlier this week, Haley took questions from caucusgoers.
Volunteers for AFP Action, the political arm of the powerful Koch network that’s supporting Haley, were out meeting with caucusgoers in the storm on Friday. Senior adviser Tyler Raygor noted that “knocking doors in snow takes more time,” but that it also made it more likely that people were at home.
DeSantis postponed four events on Friday that had been planned for cities further from Des Moines, citing unsafe weather conditions.” He did campaign earlier Friday north of the capital city with Gov.
