Four Republican presidential candidates will participate in a forum in Iowa on Saturday with GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra, with less than six weeks to make an impression on Iowa caucusgoers before the January 15 GOP caucuses.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Texas pastor Ryan Binkley were invited and will attend the event.
Feenstra invited the presidential hopefuls to his conservative corner of western Iowa for an event he’s calling, “Faith and Family with the Feenstras,” which will feature conversations with each of the candidates.
The candidates will get to share their message and pitch their vision for the country before an audience at the Christian college Dordt University in Sioux Center – which sits in Sioux County, a county that went for former President Donald Trump by a whopping nearly 67 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.
The presidential field faces the challenge of trying to cut into Trump’s overwhelming lead in both state and national polls.
It’s the latest event that Iowans will get to hear from the candidates and compare them, following the contentious fourth GOP primary debate in Alabama earlier this week. DeSantis and Ramaswamy targeted Haley, hitting her on immigration, her record on China and foreign policy.
Trump decided to skip the debate and Binkley failed to qualify.
Much like the debate, Trump will be elsewhere on Saturday night: he’ll deliver the keynote speech for the New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala in New York City.
Other Republican candidates not attending Saturday’s event in Iowa are former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has prioritized campaigning in New Hampshire.
Feenstra, who was elected to Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in 2020 after defeating then-Rep. Steve King in the district’s Republican primary, has made a point to hold events with some of the candidates invited to Saturday’s event. US Sen. Joni Ernst and the three other GOP House members – Reps. Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn – have also hosted the candidates and introduced them at events.
Like the rest of the Iowa congressional delegation, Feenstra has not endorsed a presidential candidate ahead of the caucuses.
“We need a president who understands our values and will advance policies that support our families, defend our faith, and restore American prosperity,” the congressman said in a statement announcing the event.
The candidates will host other events in Iowa this weekend. DeSantis plans to attend a watch party later Saturday in Iowa for the 124th Army-Navy football game. And next week, he will participate in a CNN presidential town hall on Tuesday in Des Moines.
Haley will host town halls in Spirit Lake and Clear Lake on Saturday, and another in Waukee on Sunday.
Following the Feenstra event, Ramaswamy will hold events in that part of the state, hitting Sibley, Primghar and Cherokee. He then will campaign in New Hampshire before returning to Iowa for a presidential town hall with CNN on Wednesday.
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