DeSantis is hoping Iowa evangelicals can make his campaign born again

As Ron DeSantis loses believers in the Beltway, he finds faith among some Iowa evangelical leaders.

The Florida governor and his super PAC have been feverishly working the religious circuit in the nation’s first caucus state, trying to capitalize on Donald Trump’s unleashing of vitriol against the state’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds.

Now DeSantis has his best chance yet to appeal to this influential voting base and try to rewrite his campaign’s narrative amid lagging poll numbers and a barrage of increasingly negative headlines. On Friday, he will address The Family Leader, an influential Christian organization that draws a large crowd of conservative pastors.

“I really think America wants to turn the page,” Bob Vander Plaats, CEO of The Family Leader, said in an interview. “If you’re looking for an alternative to Trump, I think Gov. DeSantis is the frontrunner right now.”

For DeSantis, the pressure to find momentum anywhere is growing. Though Trump remains far ahead in polling in Iowa, people in DeSantis’ orbit view the state as an opportunity.