Santorum is first to all 99 counties
ROCK RAPIDS, Ia. — Rick Santorum is the first presidential candidate this election cycle to campaign in all 99 Iowa counties, but it’s certainly no guarantee he will win the 2016 Iowa Republican Party caucuses.
Santorum, a former U.S. senator who claimed a belated razor-thin victory in the 2012 Iowa caucuses, held an event Tuesday night at Island Park at Rock Rapids in far northwest Iowa that attracted more than 150 people who dined on Pizza Ranch pizza and Blue Bunny ice cream. His stop here allowed him to put a mark on his campaign map showing he had visited heavily Republican Lyon County, the only county where he hadn’t paid a call on this statewide tour.
“It feels great, and it's great to be in Lyon County. There are so many great folks here and they have been so kind to us in the past,” Santorum said. In the 2012 Iowa caucuses, Lyon County Republicans gave him 63 percent of their caucus vote, his strongest support of any county in Iowa.
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Just as Santorum was at the bottom of opinion polls four years ago before making a late surge to win after visiting all 99 counties, he is stuck at 1 percent in The Des Moines Register’s latest Iowa Poll in the 2016 caucus campaign. But this time Santorum faces a steeper climb to success, said Drake University political scientist Dennis Goldford, because of an “extremely crowded” field of 17 Republican presidential candidates.
University of Northern Iowa political scientist Christopher Larimer agrees, saying that visiting all 99 Iowa counties is still “incredibly important” when it comes to running for statewide office in Iowa. But the strength and size of the GOP field and considerable overlap among candidates — with Santorum and social conservatives like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz all competing for some of the same voters — makes Santorum’s job more difficult, he said.
“It is significant that Santorum is the first candidate to complete the tour this time around, but as other candidates complete the tour, his accomplishment will be overshadowed,” Larimer said. At least three other Republican presidential candidates — Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Gov. Scottt Walker, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry — also plan to make campaign stops in all 99 Iowa counties.
Santorum has clearly been Iowa’s champion in making presidential campaign visits this election cycle, conducting 137 events over 50 days here since November 2012, according to The Des Moines Register’s candidate tracker. That is far more campaign stops than any other candidate — Democrat or Republican.
He has attracted audiences that have ranged from just four people who joined him at a restaurant table in the small community of Hamlin to a rousing crowd of about 250 people who attended a Santorum fundraiser at a vineyard in Glenwood in far western Iowa.
State Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, who is Santorum’s state campaign director, said the 99-county tour has allowed the former senator to revitalize campaign contacts he made in 2011. Many events have involved small groups, which has allowed people to spend time with Santorum and understand the depth and breadth of his knowledge about policy issues, he added.
As Santorum heads into the final five months of the Iowa caucus campaign, Rogers said he expects the candidate to slightly change his focus, perhaps holding more house parties to foster relationships with Iowa Republicans.
“Four years ago, he was in a similar spot,” Rogers said. “I think a lot of Iowans are holding back, watching everybody. There will be a couple of candidates, in my opinion, who will drop out. It won’t be Rick, that’s for sure, and we think that in the last two weeks or so they will come back to him.”
In the 2012 Iowa caucus campaign, Santorum focused heavily on social conservative issues, arguing passionately against same-sex marriage and abortion. He isn’t ignoring those issues this time, but he has made support for blue-collar workers and revitalizing American’s manufacturing base a cornerstone of his policy agenda. He has also talked often about national security, warning of threats from ISIS and Iran, and has called for reducing legal immigration into the United States.
Despite his low poll numbers, Santorum seems to be getting a good response from some Iowans.
"He's honest. He's a Christian and he is fighting for our Constitution," said Alli Dreke of Rock Rapids, a mother of two children. "Most important, he is the most honest pro-life politician I have spoken with."
Bill and Dawn Tope of Sioux City were among the 45 to 50 people from Cornerstone World Outreach church of Sioux City who arrived here aboard a charter bus Tuesday night. They supported Santorum four years ago and still like him, although they said they would like him to be a little more forceful.
"I like everything he stands for — the conservative values," Dawn Tope said.
Drake political scientist Goldford said Santorum’s 99-county tour demonstrates that presidential candidates like him still have an opportunity to compete on a relatively low budget in an era where campaign money from Super PACs has an increasing influence on the political landscape.
“This is your chance at the most retail level of politics to take your shot,” Goldford said.