How the RGA Lost the Iowa Caucus

How the RGA Lost the Iowa Caucus

Make sure you count the RGA and Gov. Kim Reynolds as some of last night’s biggest losers in Iowa.

In a home-state humiliation, Republican voters completely rejected Gov. Kim Reynolds who, while serving as Chair of the RGA, went all in on endorsing Gov. Ron DeSantis, who failed to win a single county on his way to getting crushed by around 30 points.

While Reynolds’ endorsement didn’t produce any victories last night, it did cause a major rift between Donald Trump and the RGA. Just recently, the New York Times revealed that “Trump’s political team…has told people it plans to not work with the Republican Governors Association because the group’s executive director has been an adviser to Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa, who endorsed Mr. DeSantis.”

A similar public feud between the RGA and Trump went on throughout the 2021-2022 election cycle under former RGA Chair Doug Ducey. The RGA spent over $13 million to defend and protect their incumbent governors in GOP primaries as Trump helped recruit and endorse primary challenges in over a dozen states, including Georgia, Idaho, Ohio, and Texas.

“The RGA would have been much better off if Kim Reynolds had kept her failed endorsement of Gov. Ron DeSantis to her secret social media account, @Kimberl26890376,” said DGA Communications Director Sam Newton. “Instead, not only was Gov. Reynolds humiliated by her home-state GOP voters, the RGA is now locked in another major feud with Donald Trump, which could cost them millions and create chaos in GOP primaries across the country. It’s tough to lose a campaign when you’re not on the ballot, but the RGA and Reynolds still found a way.”

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