Five GOP presidential candidates are at the Iowa State Fair Friday, mixing campaign speeches and talking with Iowans with traditional fair activities like grilling pork chops and taking a peek at the Butter Cow.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Vice President Mike Pence and California talk show host Larry Elder were all return visitors to the Des Moines Iowa State Fairgrounds.
Pence told the crowd at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox Thursday that he and his wife, Karen Pence, had plans to visit the livestock barns, while Burgum told Gov. Kim Reynolds at a morning “fair-side chat” that he wanted to try a “rattlesnake on a stick.”
The three candidates, as well as businessman Perry Johnson and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, also had campaign events at the Iowa State Fair scheduled for Friday, meeting with Reynolds for a “fair-side chat” at JR’s SouthPork Ranch and speaking at the Register Political Soapbox.
In Thursday events, candidates talked with Iowans about issues from the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection to the investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings. Some of the Iowans attending political events in the first two days of the Fair were weighing their options for the 2024 Republican caucuses — looking for alternatives to the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.
Linda Sullivan of Johnston came to listen to Burgum’s speech at 8:30 a.m., saying she and her husband were interested in what he and other candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott were saying. Sullivan said Trump was “wouldn’t be on my top list,” and that she was looking for another candidate to take on leading the Republican Party in 2024.
“I just want to get the best person that can get us out of this — in my words — mess, we’re kind of in, in our country,” Sullivan said. “And, yeah, just get back to common sense, like Kim said.”
Trump plans to attend the fair Saturday, but does not plan to speak at the soapbox or participate in a chat with Reynolds.
