The Iowa caucuses are just a week away, and January's weather has thrown the Republican presidential campaign schedules into disarray.
Winter Storm Finn began dumping snow in western Iowa overnight Monday, with a planned morning meeting with Nikki Haley at Horizon Restaurant in Sioux City the day's first major casualty — a moving rival that Vivek Ramaswamy mocked.
With former President Donald Trump back in Florida — and then traveling to D.C. to appear in court on Tuesday — his campaign had planned to blanket the state with substitute appearances on Monday and Tuesday.
But thanks to bad weather, the father-daughter team of Mike Huckabee and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders pulled out of Team Trump events on Monday, while sitcom star Roseanne Barr, who was scheduled to campaign for Trump on Tuesday, was in Hawaii stuck.
In addition to the snowstorm expected to drop between 6 and 12 inches of snow in some parts of the Hawkeye State, Monday's forecast for gatherings could be the coldest on record.
Winter Storm Finn began dumping snow across western Iowa overnight Monday, and 2024 Republican candidate Nikki Haley's morning event in Sioux City, Iowa, was canceled because of the weather
A volunteer for Nikki Haley's presidential campaign hangs signs after her event at Horizon Family Restaurant was canceled due to a snowstorm, throwing the Republican candidates' plans into disarray
A man shovels snow outside the Horizon Family Restaurant, where Nikki Haley was scheduled to host an event Monday morning in Sioux City, Iowa, in the western part of the state
A high of 5 degrees is expected in Des Moines, with the low currently expected to be minus 11 degrees.
Electoral meetings are physical gatherings in which voters must be at their meeting locations promptly at 7 p.m. in order to participate.
This means that bad weather can actually affect political party turnout.
“The usual concern of the groups – apart from cars not starting due to the cold temperatures or the babysitter not showing up for the same reason – is what we have forecast for this afternoon into tomorrow morning: a snowstorm,” says Prof Dennis in political science from Drake University Goldford told .
Goldford noted that the snow is expected to clear by Monday, “but with this weather in Iowa, anything can happen.”
Goldford and his Drake University colleague Hugh Winebrenner co-authored “The Iowa Precinct Caucuses: The Making of a Media Event,” which described how on caucus night in 1972, “Iowa was under siege by a fierce winter storm became”.
In Des Moines, the temperature dropped to minus 4 degrees, the Des Moines Register reported.
Former President Donald Trump told his crowd Saturday night in Clinton, Iowa, that he had been told the frigid temperatures would help his cause. 'Why is this good? “Because the other side will never vote because they have no enthusiasm,” Trump said
Rep. Thomas Massie (left) told that the freezing temperatures on caucus night would help Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (right), who joked at McDivot's Indoor Sports Pub on Sunday that he was in favor of the Weather conditions on Monday, I didn't bring warm enough clothing
In about a quarter of Iowa's 99 counties, caucuses were postponed by a day, and in some cases by two days, the book says.
There was also snow at the election meetings in 1992 and cold temperatures in 2004.
In 2016 and 2020 – when meetings were held in early February instead of January – the weather cooperated.
Candidates and surrogates have already predicted that the cold weather will actually help their cause.
During his campaign rally Saturday night in Clinton, Iowa, Trump said he bumped into Iowa state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann backstage, who told the ex-president that it would be “good” for him to do so would be cold.
'Why is this good? “Because the other side will never vote because they have no enthusiasm,” Trump said.
“We won't lose a vote because our people, as they call it, will walk on glass.” They won't stay away. “You’re going to walk on glass,” he added to cheers from the crowd.
At a campaign rally Sunday afternoon for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his deputy, Thomas Massie, predicted that the cold would be good for DeSantis.
“I think the weather is to our advantage,” Massie told . “I think our supporters are more engaged and I think the other candidates have some kind of astroturf support that will die or frost over in zero-degree weather.”
DeSantis opened Sunday's event in Grimes, Iowa, at McDivot's Indoor Sports Pub by joking that he personally wasn't prepared.
“I started bragging a little bit because it was about 35 degrees, honestly, I can handle that, no big deal, I can handle it – and then it got a little colder today.” And then I looked at the weather forecast for watched caucus night,” DeSantis said with a laugh.
“I need to go shopping and get some extra layers.” “I don't have that stuff,” said the Florida governor.
Despite Monday's snowfall, Ramaswamy said he plans to continue his campaign stops in Iowa, including in Sioux City, where several inches of snow were already on the ground.
“You know campaigns are canceling events today, not us.” We have several events scheduled and are continuing in northwest Iowa. “If you can’t handle the snow, you can’t handle Xi Jinping,” Ramaswamy said in a video recorded on his campaign bus.
“I know Nikki Haley and others can't handle this.” “Let them do it their way, we'll do it our way,” he continued.
“Let’s do some manning,” Ramaswamy said.