Many Iowan Democrats reportedly plan to brave frigid temperatures on Monday and “crash” the Iowa caucus to artificially inflate former Gov. Nikki Haley’s election results against former President Donald Trump.
The potential Democrat vote for Haley would confirm Haley’s campaign is backed by Democrats and establishment Republicans who hate the former president.
- Iowa permits “day-of party registration” for the Monday election.
- Iowan Democrats are not holding in-person presidential election voting this year.
Iowan caucus rules allow for “mischievous” anti-Trump voters “a chance to diminish Trump’s inevitability,” as Don McLeese of West Des Moines told Axios.
“I’ll hold my nose and caucus for Haley,” McLeese added.
Because Democrats see Haley as the alternative to Trump, they could artificially improve her election result ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), GOP strategist David Kochel told Axios.
“If you even had 5,000 or 7,500 people across the state cross over for her, that might be the difference between her and Ron DeSantis,” Kochel said.
Well behind in the polls, Haley’s team refused to condemn crossover voters. Haley is a “tried and true conservative who’s working to earn every vote,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas confirmed to Axios.
The Trump campaign mocked Haley’s desperation and brushed aside the potential threat. “If that is something they are relying on to get through the night, then poor people, I feel bad for them,” Trump Senior Adviser Chris LaCivita told Axios.
Trump is polling at historic highs in Iowa. The final Iowa Caucus poll by the Des Moines Register found Saturday that Trump laps the field with more than double the support of the nearest challenger.
- Trump: 48 percent
- Haley: 20 percent
- DeSantis: 16 percent
“The survey has almost nothing but good news for the former president,” New York Times’ Shane Goldmacher reported. “He leads with every demographic group tested, performing most strongly among those without a college degree, those earning less than $50,000 and men who did not graduate from college.”
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.