Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis visits Council Bluffs

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (WOWT) - Florida Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is touring multiple cities in Iowa, including a stop in Council Bluffs Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday is DeSantis’ first full day of campaigning for president with appearances in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Pella and Cedar Rapids.

Supporters in Council Bluffs started lining up at the Grass Wagon venue to see Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis. Doors opened at 11 a.m., with the event beginning at 12 p.m.

DeSantis made an earlier stop Wednesday in Sioux City. Prior to that on Tuesday, he was in the Des Moine metro and visited Clive - with roughly 500 people showing up to hear from the presidential candidate.

In Council Bluffs, DeSantis spoke to a crowd of around 300 people for a little more than an hour on a variety of subjects.

He criticized the debt ceiling deal and celebrated how he took on Disney after it opposed the law banning discussions about gender identity in classrooms.

Ron DeSantis spent a lot of time praising Iowa lawmakers and Gov. Kim Reynolds.

“Someone had written something that Iowa is doing a lot of great stuff like Florida,” DeSantis said. “They may be the Florida of the North. I said, yeah. But then I looked at all the good stuff they’re doing, and I said you know, maybe Florida is the Iowa of the south. You should be very grateful you have folks who are exercising leadership and doing a good job.”

The governor’s wife Casey also addressed the crowd, sharing a few jokes about trying to corral their children’s behavior. Their kids are 6, 5, and 3. Her message to the voters: her husband doesn’t back down.

6 News spoke with a number of voters, many from Nebraska who simply wanted to see Ron DeSantis up close.

Several understand that there’s a long road ahead in the campaign but felt energized by his conservative message and experience on getting things done in Florida.

One woman, who left early, said she’s going to stick with Trump, because, in her view, she said at least he’s entertaining.

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