Rick Santorum will complete his campaign swing through all 99 counties in Iowa Tuesday night in an effort to win over the voters who handed him a caucus victory in 2012.
But can the former Pennsylvania senator recreate the Iowa magic a second time around?
Since launching his campaign in May, Santorum has made numerous visits to Iowa, spending most of his time on the road there and stopping for a few hours in each county to connect with voters. That was his strategy in 2012 too, when he also visited all 99 counties and used Iowa as a springboard from polling in the low single digits to being Mitt Romney’s main challenger for the Republican nomination. Santorum won the Iowa caucuses by just 34 votes.
This time, however, Santorum has competition for evangelicals and other socially conservative voters. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee are among the many 2016 Republicans appealing to the voters Santorum won before.
Santorum is basing his entire campaign strategy on the first state to vote in the 2016 GOP nominating contest, but currently polls at only 1.3 percent in Iowa. In contrast, Donald Trump polls at 23.3 percent. Santorum didn’t qualify for the first main debate, appearing instead at a candidates’ forum for other low-polling candidates.
The last county Santorum will visit is Rock Rapids, Iowa. He calls the swoop a “full Grassley” in tribute to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a veteran Republican who routinely campaigns in each county.
