A version of this story appeared in the On Background newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive On Background delivered directly to your inbox each Friday.
It’s known in Iowa as the “Full Grassley” — visiting all 99 of the state’s counties ahead of an election — and it’s considered a test of endurance and commitment to getting to know voters.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is about to become the latest to accomplish the feat when he checks off his final county this weekend in his battle for the state’s nod in the 2024 Republican presidential race.
“The Republican winners of the last three Iowa caucuses all completed the ‘Full Grassley’ because they knew Iowans expect their candidates to show up and earn their support,” said DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo. “Winning an Iowa caucus requires a strong combination of outworking and out-organizing the competition, and that’s been the Ron DeSantis model.
“This historic milestone is just another example of how no one in the race is coming close to matching Ron DeSantis as we hit the deciding stretch,” he said.
Indeed, history suggests the Full Grassley is a good way to connect with Iowa voters. The winners of the Iowa caucuses in 2008, 2012, and 2016 all visited all Iowa counties, but none went on to win the Republican nomination.
“The ‘Full Grassley’ is a nice publicity stunt, but it’s neither necessary nor sufficient for electoral success,” said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University in Des Moines.
Named after the state’s long-serving Sen. Charles E. Grassley, who has visited the 99 counties every year for the past 43 years, the feat has become a way for national candidates to prove to Iowa that they value the state and its early role in the nominating process.
Now 90 years old, Mr. Grassley completed this year’s tour in August. Celebrating the flat tires, speeding tickets and deer in the headlights along the way, he says it’s a way to hold himself accountable and keep in touch with his constituents.
“I think it is just a way of making yourself available to people — to know what Iowans are thinking,” Mr. Grassley told The Washington Times. “It is a way to make sure people know you haven’t forgotten about any part of Iowa, but I would not want to say it is dispositive — to the extent that is going to make a difference that you are going to win the caucus.”
Presidential hopefuls want the publicity that comes with completing the Full Grassley, as well as the contact with voters.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas accomplished the Full Grassley in 2016 en route to winning the Iowa caucuses. So did former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in 2012 and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008.
None of them, however, went on to win the Republican Party nomination.
“I am confident in saying that no person elected as president traveled to all 99 counties in that election cycle,” said Ralph Brown, a lawyer in Dallas County who has been active in Iowa Republican politics for decades, including stints as executive director and general counsel of the Iowa Republican Party.
Part of the reason is the caucuses have become a lousy predictor of the eventual winner.
George W. Bush was the last Republican to win the caucuses and become president, but he was an infrequent Iowa visitor.
This time, former President Donald Trump has visited just 11 of the state’s 99 counties, according to a running tally from The Des Moines Register that shows he will have held 15 events in Iowa after a pair of campaign stops on Saturday.
Mr. DeSantis has held 130 events in Iowa, according to his campaign.
Mr. Trump still has a 30-percentage-point lead in Iowa over his closest rivals: Mr. DeSantis and Nikki Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations.
Mr. Trump attempted to turn Mr. DeSantis’ time in Iowa into a liability by labeling him an “absentee governor.”
“Ron DeSanctimonious has become an Absentee Governor of Florida, never there, not working,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Get back to Florida, Ron, and do what you campaigned on, which was NOT running for President. Fix the highest in the Nation Insurance problem. Oh, and you’re 54 Points down!”
Mr. Santorum said accomplishing the Full Grassley shows a candidate believes “the state of Iowa is important, and you want to hear from them and that you are committed to being accessible to voters.”
“That, to me, is the biggest thing,” he told The Washington Times. Visiting all the counties is “just the beginning” of proving authenticity and genuine care for Iowans.
Mr. Santorum said he held about 385 events before the 2012 caucuses and recalled days with more than nine events.
“If you’re just going there and checking a box to say, I’ve been to a county, so you can say I did the full Grassley?” he said. “Yeah, that’s a little different than sort of committing to the state.”
David Yepsen, an Iowa political reporter who covered the caucuses for decades, said Mr. DeSantis has nothing to lose from achieving the Full Grassley because it sends an “important symbol that signals to rural voters you care about them.”
“Many in rural America feel overlooked or ignored,” Mr. Yepsen said. “If a presidential candidate has time, there’s nothing wrong with doing one, but it’s a huge investment of time.
“For a guy like Desantis, who is in a do-or-die position here, it’s probably worth it to dig up every vote you can find,” Mr. Yepsen said.
The value of the investment has clear ceilings.
Ryan Binkley, a little-known Republican candidate in the 2024 race, has already completed the 99-county tour.
“Does anyone seriously think that’s going to make him a real, let alone viable, candidate for the presidency?” Mr. Goldford said.
The DeSantis campaign plans to celebrate his 99-county triumph at a campaign rally featuring Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Christian conservative activist Bob Vander Plaats and Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl.
The Trump campaign is downplaying Mr. DeSantis’ accomplishment by pointing out that Mr. Binkley beat him to the punch.
“As with his entire campaign, DeSantis is trying to gaslight voters and caucus-goers into believing he actually has a shot of becoming president,” the campaign said.
Mr. Binkley, a lead pastor of a Christian church in Texas, thanked the Trump campaign for reminding the political universe that he was in the race to visit every Iowa county.
“The time and energy I put into Iowa is the best investment I have made,” he said. “Meeting voters and hearing how my message resonates with them is the greatest return.”
Mr. Binkley is polling at zero percent and failed to qualify for the first three presidential debates.
Mr. Santorum, like others in the party, is convinced that Mr. DeSantis’ chances of upending Mr. Trump in the primary contests hinge on a win — or at least a strong showing — in the Iowa caucuses, where religious and social conservatives play an oversized role.
“If I were that campaign, it is Iowa or bust,” he said. “If I was DeSantis, I wouldn’t leave the state other than to raise money.”
• Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.