DeSantis, Haley and Ramaswamy will appear in northwest Iowa days after a combative GOP debate

By HANNAH FINGERHUT
Associated Press

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidates will cross paths again in Iowa just days after a fractious debate and as the countdown to the caucuses nears the one-month mark.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will make their case — this time without the others interrupting — in northwest Iowa, a more rural, conservative corner of the state.

Each will get time onstage with Rep. Randy Feenstra and his wife, Lynette, to discuss faith, family and politics at Dordt University in Sioux Center.

On Friday, DeSantis, Haley and Ramaswamy made stops across Iowa as the pressure mounts to secure an attention-grabbing finish in the Jan. 15 contest that kicks off the Republicans’ nominating calendar. Former President Donald Trump, who will not join the Feenstra family on Saturday, continues to sit comfortably atop the field in polls of Republicans in Iowa and nationwide.

DeSantis, Haley and Ramaswamy last appeared together in Iowa ahead of Thanksgiving, at the Family Leader’s roundtable discussion, which was an uncommonly friendly affair. The three next look to take the stage at Drake University in Des Moines for a Republican debate just five days before the caucuses.