DES MOINES — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s ground game here has expanded dramatically in the last few weeks before the caucuses, with a massive phone bank that outgrew campaign headquarters and now operates out of a nearby suite of offices, according to sources close to the campaign.
The beefed-up get-out-the-vote drive is key for Mr. Trump, who is faced with the arduous task of getting an army of supporters who are new to the process to attend their first caucus.
The Trump campaign has weathered doubts about the strength of its ground game as chief rival Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has built what was considered the most formidable operation in the Hawkeye State. Mr. Trump’s expanded phone bank is one sign that his ground game may have caught up with or even surpassed the Cruz campaign.
About two weeks ago Trump supporter Shane Bohlmann vowed to attend his first caucus for Mr. Trump despite never being contacted by the campaign. The lack of contact added to skepticism about the Trump campaign’s apparatus.
Not anymore.
“They’ve been contacting me now,” Mr. Bohlmann, 47, a real estate investor in Denver, Iowa, said Thursday. “I would say a couple times a week I get calls.”
The calls provide reminders for when and where to caucus, as well as information about caucus training sessions offered by the Trump campaign.
Getting people to caucuses is a heavy lift for every campaign in Iowa, but getting first-timers to caucus is exceedingly difficult. Campaigns must make sure supporters know where to go and what to expect, such as trudging out on a cold night to a neighborhood school, library or community center to spend an hour or more representing their candidate.
What’s more, turnout could be hampered by snow, which is in the forecast for Monday.
The Trump campaign has also stepped up the amount of door-knocking, training sessions and recruiting precinct captains, according to Trump volunteers.
“His phone banks are working overtime. I’ve been getting three or four phone calls a day for the last week and a half from his phone center,” said Ken Crow, a prominent tea party activist in Iowa who is backing Mr. Trump.
Mr. Crow previously expressed doubts about the ground game in Iowa, which appeared to languish despite Mr. Trump hiring veteran Iowa GOP operative Chuck Laudner, who marshaled former Sen. Rick Santorum’s come-from-behind caucus win in 2012.
“Laudner has ramped up his ground game in Iowa dramatically,” said Mr. Crow. “He had such a massive phone center that he had to open up separate offices away from the campaign offices just for the phone center — and it is packed with volunteers.”
SEE ALSO: Carly Fiorina: If I were Hillary Clinton, I would have left Bill
Mr. Trump has been widening his lead in the latest surveys, topping Mr. Cruz 30 percent to 23 percent in a Monmouth University Poll released this week. But Mr. Trump’s lead is padded with voters who say this would be their fist caucus.
“Turnout is basically what separates Trump and Cruz right now,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
“Trump’s victory hinges on having a high number of self-motivated, lone wolf caucusgoers show up Monday night,” he said.
Nearly half — 45 percent — of likely caucusgoers told the pollsters that they have been contacted by a campaign to obtain their support. That includes 25 percent who have been contacted by the Cruz campaign and 13 percent contacted by the Trump campaign.
Among those who have been contacted by a campaign, 28 percent said they are caucusing for Mr. Cruz and 25 percent support Mr. Trump. Among those who have not received a campaign contact, 35 percent will be caucusing for Mr. Trump and 19 percent for Mr. Cruz, according to the poll.
Trump campaign workers insisted that their rate of voter contacts was growing.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort,” said Jeff Moorman, a Trump volunteer in Ankeny, Iowa, about 10 miles north of Des Moines.
“The focus is on Monday night, and they are doing a really good job getting people moving at the right time,” he said. “The groundwork they’ve laid out in the last six months or so, with all the rallies and building a database, and now they are really following up with those people.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.