DeSantis, Haley Spent Combined $72M In Iowa For Second, Third Place

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) spent a staggering $72 million combined in Iowa, only to end up placing a distant second and third in the Iowa Caucuses.

These massive budgets for the losing candidates only served to underscore just how much grassroots support that former President Donald Trump has in Iowa, as the GOP primary frontrunner reportedly only spent a total of $18.3 million in the state but won the Iowa Caucuses in a massive landslide.

Trump won 98 out of 99 counties in Iowa, receiving 51% of the vote compared to DeSantis’ 21%, Haley’s 19%, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s 7%. Ramaswamy dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump after the Iowa Caucuses had concluded.

Haley won a single county in the state, Johnson County, by just one vote — a victory that has been attributed to the county’s strong Democrat population, as CBS News admitted that Johnson County’s Iowa Caucus precinct had run out of party-switch forms after it was overwhelmed by Democrats arriving to vote as “Republicans.”

In order to achieve third place in Iowa, Haley outspent every other candidate in the race, a full two million dollars more than DeSantis.

According to CNN, the total spending for the Republican candidates in Iowa since January 1 between their campaigns and outside group ad spending was $37 million for pro-Haley ads, $35 million for pro-DeSantis ads, $18.3 million for pro-Trump ads and a combined $33.2 million for all other candidates.

The candidates will now move on to New Hampshire, where Trump is already leading in the polls. A Saint Anselm College Survey Center survey taken January 8-9 among 1,194 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary likely voters showed that Trump is leading by double-digits with 45% support. Haley trails 14 points behind with 31% support.

The poll — which was taken before former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) dropped out of the race — shockingly showed Christie in third place with 9% support among New Hampshire voters, while DeSantis and Ramaswamy were tied for fourth place with 6%.

New Hampshire voters were already lined up in 20-degree weather on Tuesday morning to see Trump speak at an event alongside Ramaswamy, who has vowed to join the GOP frontrunner on the campaign trail.