AMES, Iowa — Despite sub-zero temperatures, 20 Texas women -- including former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price -- trekked to Iowa this weekend to campaign for Nikki Haley.
“What really concerns us is turnout,” Price told WFAA. “It’s been down below 0 [degrees], and I think a lot of people are just a little complacent about it. But I think they’ll come out. Iowans are hearty and pretty set on what they want.”
The air temperature in Ames on Sunday afternoon was -7 degrees. It was substantially colder than Anchorage, Alaska at 28 degrees and McMurdo Station in Antarctica at 23 degrees. The low on Monday night, when Iowans caucus, is forecast to be -19.
Still, Price and the Texas volunteers made 1,012 calls to Iowans on Saturday urging them to bundle up and go caucus tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.
“It’s really about having her have a great showing in Iowa, winning in New Hampshire and showing that she’s electable to all of the Super Tuesday voters,” said Mindy Ellmer, an Austin-based political consultant and wife of State Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth.
She is helping lead the Texas group in Iowa.
But Donald Trump has a dominant lead in this state with 48% of the vote, according to a survey conducted by Iowa pollster Ann Selzer this weekend. That survey also showed Haley moving into second place with 20% support, ahead of Ron DeSantis with 16%.
“I think a win would be a really strong second place. Trump is way up there now. We’d love to see a win by keeping Trump under 50% and pull Nikki up in the 20s," Price explained. "And that would be really strong going into New Hampshire."
“He’s got a very robust, aggressive grassroots strategy here and we do, too. So, we’ll see. It would be great to have him under 50 (percent) but we’re checking our expectations and growing every day,” Ellmer added.
Former State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and his wife are among the Haley volunteers. In addition to making calls for Haley in a phone bank, a handful of volunteers braved the bitterly cold wind and knocked on a couple dozen doors.
The Women for Nikki group plans fundraisers on Jan. 25 in Fort Worth and Dallas. A larger effort is in the works for February, Ellmer said, with Haley visiting Texas.
“She’s doing two days in Texas and making sweeps through San Antonio, Houston, Dallas. We’re trying to add Austin and Fort Worth,” Ellmer explained. “Some really high-profile names [will be] supporting her and she’s going to be rolling out a leadership team and I think there are going to be some names on there that are going to be very helpful for her.”
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, has been on the trail with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa, and told WFAA's Jason Wheeler he drove through a blizzard to get there.
When asked why there are so few Texas Republicans participating in the Iowa caucuses this year, Roy said: "Maybe they are not as enthralled with President Trump as they say they are. If you really want to get back behind him, I think you would be here for him.”
Texans cast their ballots in about 50 days on Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024.