As Republican 2024 primary ramps up, experts say Iowa has 'never been more important'
Virtually every Republican presidential candidate has much to gain or lose in Iowa, which will come first in the 2024 primary calendar, experts said The packed and growing GOP primary field is filled with big names, like former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But to Iowa voter Kim Schmitt, the race feels wide open. "There's a lot of good people out there. We could talk all day about what we have now -- like, 11 people running?" she said at former Vice President Mike Pence's campaign launch in Des Moines last week. "That's why we have the caucuses, so we can meet and hear each person, and Iowa will have that a few times, to meet and hear each candidate generally." Other Iowans echoed similar openness to ABC News in recent days, underscoring how the state's crucial nominating contest early next year -- and the press-the-flesh campaigning style Iowans expect and encourage -- could loom even larger than in cycles past. Political ...