Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a political action committee backed by the Koch network, is ramping up its ground game in Iowa for former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley.
AFP Action announced that they have allocated $4 million for digital advertising and canvassing for Haley, and are deploying 100 people to knock doors for Haley in Iowa. The group has knocked on at least 350,000 doors and made 700,000 more calls since February, surveying which voters are looking for a GOP candidate besides former President Donald Trump, Drew Klein, the senior advisor for AFP Action, which endorsed Haley in November, said during an event Sunday.(RELATED: ‘Trying To Make Up Our Minds’: Iowa Voters Say Trump Lead May Not Be As Airtight As It Seems)
“She’s had the momentum. Her message was being well-received,” Klein said, according to NBC News. “This has been the missing piece.”
Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks to guests at Ashley’s BBQ Bash hosted by Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA) on August 06, 2023, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina for six years before becoming an ambassador, had a significant lead over President Joe Biden in a theoretical match-up by 17 points, according to a recent poll.
Haley spoke at an event Saturday alongside Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy with Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra. Voters told the DCNF that they were still trying to “make up [their] mind” when it came to a GOP candidate, but several expressed concerns with Haley’s statements on the transgender issue and noted that the other candidates had “beat up” on her over her past comments during the last debate.
DeSantis has spent a significant amount of time in Iowa, fulfilling a campaign promise to visit all 99 counties, while also grabbing the endorsement from Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. Never Back Down, a Florida super PAC, says it has knocked on 750,000 doors and had 30,000 people commit to caucus for him. David Oman, a former co-chair of the Iowa Republican Party, told NBC, however, that in Iowa it’s important to come in “hot at the end.”
“There’s an old Iowa caucus saying: ‘Organize, organize and get hot at the end.’ She is getting hot at the end,” Oman said. “She’s getting hot when she needs to.”
“Our campaign is built to last, and AFP’s endorsement ensures we have a ground game that matches and exceeds Trump and DeSantis.” Haley’s spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas told the DCNF.
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