Updated: Mitt Romney to stump for Joni Ernst in Iowa
Mitt Romney, a Republican who 731,000 Iowans hoped would become the next president, is returning for the first time since the 2012 general election.
The Des Moines Register has learned that Romney will be in Iowa next week to stump for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst.
The five-way GOP race for Iowa's rare open U.S. Senate seat is down to Ernst, a hog-castrating, Harley-riding combat veteran, versus Mark Jacobs, a millionaire retired investment banker and energy industry CEO, several polls have shown.
The vote is in 12 days, on Tuesday, June 3.
It has been a low-interest race, populated with second- and third-tier candidates who jumped in after all of Iowa's best-known Republican elected officials opted out. Ernst is in the lead, but as voters start to tune in, the dynamics could shift. As many as 30 percent of likely primary-goers remain undecided, according to public and internal campaign polling.
The GOP winner will face U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, a seven-year congressman who has no opponent in the Democratic primary. The nominees will compete to replace retiring Democrat Tom Harkin, a 30-year senator.
Romney will campaign with Ernst, a 43-year-old state senator, on Friday, May 30.
UPDATE: The first event will be an 8:30 a.m. rally in Cedar Rapids at the Veterans Memorial Building on May's Island, 50 Second Avenue Bridge. A noon rally will take place at 11:30 a.m. in Davenport at the Rogalski Center at St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St.
Romney was last in Iowa on Nov. 4, 2012.
In a statement, Romney said: "We need Iowa to have a voice in the U.S. Senate that will protect and promote traditional conservative values, and Joni's proven record in the state senate, her decades of leadership as a military officer, and her commitment to the values that were passed on to her as a girl on a Montgomery County farm make it clear to me that she is the very best Iowa has to offer."
Romney endorsed Ernst in early March, sending an email to his list of backers in Iowa. Since then, two of Ernst's competitors have gotten nods from 2012 presidential candidates. Texas Gov. Rick Perry endorsed former U.S. attorney Matt Whitaker, a tea party stalwart. Former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum endorsed religious conservative Sam Clovis, a business and public policy professor and radio talk show host.
Ernst has raked in a broad range of endorsements from various factions of the Republican party, including Sarah Palin and the Senate Conservatives Fund on the right and establishment support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others.
Romney raised more than $3 million in Iowa in 2012 and came within 34 votes of winning the GOP presidential caucuses here. A total of 730,716 Iowans voted for him in the general election, in comparison to the 822,544 who voted for Democratic President Barack Obama, elections records show.