CLIVE, Iowa — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis began his quest to end former President Donald Trump’s reign over the Republican Party, launching his White House bid on Tuesday in a packed church west of Des Moines, where he gave voters a close-up look at the leading Republican alternative to the former president.
Mr. DeSantis, 44, is the only candidate other than Mr. Trump registering in double digits among both national and Hawkeye State primary voters, but he’s trailing the former president by 30 points nationally and more than 20 points in Iowa.
Mr. DeSantis emerged on stage at the Eternity Church in Clive, just west of Des Moines, to a standing ovation after an introduction by popular GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds, who touted the conservative policies signed into law in his state.
Mr. DeSantis launched his bid to more than 1,000 attendees with an attack not on his number-one GOP opponent, Mr. Trump, but on President Biden and the so-called Washington elites.
He accused Democrats of kneecapping the economy by killing energy production, leaving the borders wide open and letting criminals roam the streets by allowing crime to increase in the nation’s cities.
He attacked “Marxist ideology,” painted the education system and corporations as threats, and denounced the COVID vaccine-mandates and lockdowns that he said are still hurting the country. He also denounced government spending and debt, which he said is damaging the economy and hurting the middle class.
“Our country is going in the wrong direction. We can see it and we can feel it,” Mr. DeSantis said. “We must choose a new direction for our country. We must choose a path that will lead to a revival of American greatness.”
The DeSantis campaign launch attracted dedicated supporters and curious GOP voters looking for an alternative to Mr. Trump, who is running for president while facing criminal investigations and lawsuits and who was recently found liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a New York City civil suit that revived decades-old allegations.
Some Iowa voters are shopping around for an alternative without the legal drama.
“We are just kind of checking him out,” said William Siefkas, 66, who came to the DeSantis launch with his wife, Connie. “We are tired of all the muckety-muck going on with Trump right now.”
The DeSantis campaign and his supporters believe Iowa offers a chance for him to cut into Mr. Trump’s advantage, thanks to a heavily Christian base of voters.
Mr. DeSantis can appeal to Republican voters with his conservative, pro-life agenda he has advanced in Florida, without the drama and legal entanglements that come with the former president, they said.
Matt Wells, 42, who lives in Washington, in the southeastern quadrant of the state, is all in for Mr. DeSantis, in part because of Mr. DeSantis’s squeaky-clean resume and dedication to his family.
Mr. DeSantis is also staunch conservatism and pushed through Florida laws limiting LGBTQ content in public schools, prohibiting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and taking on the woke policies of Disney and other corporations.
It’s a policy playbook exactly to Mr. Wells’ liking and he believes Mr. DeSantis can win Iowa voters, particularly conservatives of his generation, with one-on-one retail politicking that shows off his policy expertise.
“I think he will easily appeal to people of my age,” Mr. Wells said. “The ones I worry about are the boomers. The problem I see is that they are putting their hopes and dreams on a guy.”
That “guy,” the former president, arrives in Iowa later this week, where he’ll hold a televised town hall event with Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel and will answer questions and meet with voters at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale on Thursday.
Mr. DeSantis did not attack Mr. Trump directly but promoted his own record rejecting the COVIS lockdowns and mandates that were pushed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former White House COVID czar whose policies were supported by Mr. Trump as president.
“When you do the right thing regardless of polls, regardless of where the wind’s blowing, people appreciate you,” Mr. DeSantis said. “At the end of the day, leadership is not about entertainment, it’s not about building a brand or virtue signaling, it’s about results.”
The Iowa caucus is likely to take place in January and is poised to be the first contest of the Republican primary.
Longtime political operatives in the state say Mr. DeSantis, or any of the GOP candidates working retail politics in the state, has a chance to cut into Mr. Trump’s big lead.
“It’s fair to say Trump has the upper hand right now, but I would not say anything is in the bag,” Iowa Republican National Committee member Steve Scheffler said. “Anything can happen. Whoever comes here and works their tail off the hardest may begin to connect.”
