Illustrating more why Iowa is not a representation of anything: an influential Iowa evangelical pastor to whom Ron DeSantis-affiliated groups paid $95,000 to get their candidate to speak before his Family Leader Foundation as his campaign started cratering over the summer has officially endorsed the Republican Florida governor for the upcoming Iowa caucuses, Reuters reports.
Bob Vander Plaats’s endorsement don’t mean much in presidential races, but they do seem to be prescient in Iowa. An unsuccessful politician himself–he had three unsuccessful shots at running for governor himself before 2011–Vander Plaats endorsed the Iowa caucus winners in 2012 (Rick Santorum) and in 2016 (Ted Cruz).