Iowa caucuses: GOP candidates make final push ahead of vote

(NewsNation) — The Iowa caucuses are here. The first-in-the-nation contest in the GOP presidential primary race takes place Monday in the Hawkeye State with former President Donald Trump holding overwhelming support from Iowa voters.

Candidates have been braving the cold the past weekend, trying to make their final pleas before Monday’s vote.

Trump’s campaign has some last-minute surrogate events, hosting meet and greets with a long list of Republican members of Congress and other GOP leaders throughout the nation.

While a win for Trump seems all but inevitable, he has still been spending more time attacking the other Republican hopefuls on the campaign trail, aiming at his now top rival in the race: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

“The only people getting rich right now are Joe Biden’s donors and Nikki Haley’s donors. She happens to be a globalist by the way, I know her very well,” Trump said. “She’s not up to the job, I can tell you.”

Haley pulled ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the second-place ranking in the final stretch. The two have been locked in a battle for second place on the campaign trail.

Despite the below-zero temperatures, DeSantis plans to make appearances at three in-person events Monday before the caucuses kick-off. His campaign is even helping people with transportation to get to get from their homes to caucus locations.

Haley will be taking a back seat from campaigning, but like DeSantis, has pleaded with voters to bundle up and show up to vote, asking Iowans to bring friends and family with them to the polls.

She asked her supporters to get out there and caucus, urging them to “layer up” in case they stay in line.

“Today is the day we make history,” Haley said Tuesday ahead of the caucuses. “We tune out the noise of the media. We tune out the noise of the politicians and we raise the voices of Americans that say we want a better day. We’re going make it happen.”

Although he has struggled in the final stretch to garner significant voter support, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t giving up just yet. He will be hosting three events Monday and a watch party in the Hawkeye State ahead of the vote.

Trump and DeSantis campaigns, as well as Never Back Down — the super PAC backing DeSantis, are making plans to help get caucusgoers to their locations, even deploying 4-wheel drivers.

“Our team is in constant contact with the committed caucus-goers in their community and will ensure they can get out to caucus,” a Never Back Down official told NewsNation. Caucus goers can call their precinct captains, for example, who will arrange rides, the official said.

Iowa Republican State Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said he is expecting a “robust” voter turnout; however, he’s unsure it will surpass record numbers. Regardless, he said the enthusiasm is there.

While it will be the coldest caucus night on record, Kaufmann doesn’t believe the negative temperatures will deter voters.

The majority of Iowa voters who have spoken with NewsNation say despite the GOP hopefuls’ final attempts to campaign, they are going into tonight’s caucuses with their decided candidate already in mind.

“We are caucusing for Trump and I just like that he stands well for biblical views,” Iowa voter Becky Crawley said. “I’m not so sure Ron has a handle on things. He’s kind of flip-flopping a lot. There’s that certain something I’m not sure he has all the way that I think Nikki does.”