Iowa readies for record-cold as election caucuses draw closer

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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, temperatures are likely to break records of coldness – and keep potential voters at home.

Nikki 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 caucus goers.

Volunteers for AFP Action, the political arm of the powerful Koch network that’s supporting Haley, were out meeting with caucus goers 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 on Friday north of the capital city with Gov. Kim Reynolds, saying he was impressed with those who turned out.

Less than an hour before DeSantis’ event with Reynolds, Iowa’s state patrol posted a warning about the weather on social media. “Please, don’t put yourself or others in danger,” it said, adding that road conditions were “extremely dangerous!”

The National Weather Service’s Des Moines office, meanwhile, posted white-out conditions of jack-knifed tractor-trailers littering interstates as much of the state was under a blizzard warning.

Trump – who has not stumped in Iowa in the closing week, instead choosing to make court appearances in Washington and New York – on Friday shifted a handful of rally events planned for over the weekend in central and western Iowa to tele-rallies, with his campaign posting the adjusted schedule “out of an abundance of caution amid severe weather advisories.”

“Wear a coat,” Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita quipped when asked about concerns about the weather over the next few days. He also noted that the campaign has “contingencies” in place, including drivers to get people to caucus sites.

With the storm bearing down and the almost other-worldly cold predicted to set in thereafter, Iowa Republicans said on Friday there were no plans to change the timing of this year’s caucuses.

Iowa GOP spokesperson Kush Desai said the party has held caucuses “through all sorts of weather events before.” Desai said state Republicans were keeping an eye on things but “not entertaining anything drastic yet” in terms of postponing any votes.