The First to All 99
There’s a lot of ceremony that’s been attached to a Ron DeSantis presidential rally in Newton tomorrow. There was a special media advisory, list of speakers including Iowa’s governor, and so on. The occasion is to note that Jasper County is the final stop in DeSantis’ 99-county tour, the so-called “Full Grassley” in honor of Iowa’s senior senator, who started the tradition of traveling to every county, every year.
It’s a milestone for the Florida governor, I suppose, and a reason to have a big event. But the fact is…he’s not the first candidate to have achieved the distinction.
As you’ve heard on KXEL, the first Republican presidential candidate to check off stops in all 99 of Iowa’s counties is businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley. He completed the task last month and joined us on KXEL not long ago to talk about it.
The DeSantis campaign had been acting like this is a big deal, implying that no one else had done it. And if you’re only looking at those you’ve been trading elbows with on the debate stage, such as Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, I suppose that’s fair.
But Iowans are well known for listening to all candidates, regardless of reputation or national polls. So there was a fair amount of backlash when the original DeSantis rally plans were announced. Even Donald Trump took note…congratulating Binkley in a Truth Social post, while poking fun at DeSantis for acting like he was the first to accomplish the feat.
So yes, it’s worthy of note when someone who wants the support of all Iowans pulls off the “Full Grassley” especially when it’s a race for president and you have to be campaigning in multiple states at the same time. But Iowans also can cut through the smoke and mirrors…and they know who was first, and who threw a self-congratulatory party when they crossed the finish line.
