Casey DeSantis’ first solo public event hones in on kids and parents

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Casey DeSantis is taking her act solo.

The first lady of Florida traveled to Iowa on Thursday for her first public appearance of her husband’s presidential campaign on her own, launching Mamas for DeSantis in a suburb of Des Moines.

It’s a key moment for the family, and not just because it essentially doubles the number of places Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign can be at one time. Casey DeSantis’ role as a parent — and an organizer of other parents — is a key part of the campaign’s strategy.

The Mamas for DeSantis initiative launched in June 2022 as an arm of the governor’s re-election campaign to mobilize mothers and grandmothers across Florida. The group initially set out to sign up 1 million “mamas” and hit 1.1 million by Election Day, according to the campaign.

Now the first family of Florida wants to harness that kind of support nationwide.

“We are going to launch the largest mobilization of moms and grandmothers across the United States of America to protect the innocence of our children and to protect the rights of parents,” Casey DeSantis told the crowd in the Simpson Barn.

Two hours before the event, Casey DeSantis tweeted a 2½-minute video montage that included clips of young children crying while wearing masks, Dr. Anthony Fauci speaking about closing venues during the coronavirus pandemic and transgender swimmer Lia Thomas on a collegiate podium, echoing many of the culture war notes her husband hits in speeches on the trail.

The video, which she narrated, included a call to action: “Enough is enough. When you come after our kids, we fight back, because there’s nothing we won’t do to protect our children.”

The mood at the Johnston event was considerably lighter. Casey DeSantis told the story of her daughter Madison’s interrupting an address at a Moms for Liberty event during the governor’s re-election campaign and recounted trying to prevent her kids from drawing on paintings in the Florida Governor’s Mansion.

“We have figured out, though, on early 19th century French wallpaper, that magic erasers do work,” she said to laughter.

It’s the first public event she has done without her husband during the presidential campaign, but she is hardly a stranger to the trail.

Casey DeSantis, a former TV reporter and anchor and something of a local celebrity in Jacksonville, Florida, canvassed neighborhoods knocking on doors during her husband’s first run for Congress.

A decade-plus later, she’s a staple in his stump speech. In a string of events the week Ron DeSantis launched his campaign, Casey DeSantis stood by his side and served as a charming intermission to his hourlong remarks.

“By the way, if you’re wondering why my voice is a little bit hoarse? Well, it’s because I’ve been negotiating with a 3-year-old all day today as to why they cannot color with permanent marker on the dining room table or in the bathroom or on the state wallpaper in the Governor’s Mansion,” she told a laughing crowd on the night of the campaign’s launch in Clive, Iowa.

She’s received warmly by audiences and has Republican attendees lining up for handshakes and pictures with her afterward, as well as with her husband.

A source close to the campaign described her as a “fiercely devoted life partner to the governor” and as a major asset for the campaign. Her role as mother and wife is “extremely attractive to an important constituency of voters in the GOP presidential primary,” the person said.

Cindy Manning, of Grimes, Iowa, agrees. “I’m a mom. And I like to hear what she has to say about what her issues are,” she said, saying Casey DeSantis “makes a big difference” in influencing her decision to potentially caucus for the governor.

Others see her potential to have an impact on her husband’s decisions as president.

“She will be a great part in influencing her husband when he becomes president — if he becomes president,” Malina Cottington said before Casey DeSantis spoke.

In a Fox News interview this month, Ron DeSantis told host Kayleigh McEnany that his wife “is really effective when she’s out on the campaign trail.”

“She’s a great mother, and she’s a great first lady for this state, and she’s made a positive impact on a lot of people,” he said.

The role for a presidential hopeful’s spouse is often just as public-facing as the candidate’s — but much less defined.

Over the July 4 holiday weekend, former second lady Karen Pence marched alongside her husband, Mike Pence, in parades in Iowa, while Gloria Suarez, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s wife, attended a Cedar Rapids Kernels baseball game with him.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s husband, Michael, deployed to the Horn of Africa last month as a member of the South Carolina National Guard — a deployment that will last through the rest of the GOP primaries.

Casey DeSantis, meanwhile, spent July 4 with her husband and their three kids in New Hampshire, marching through the pouring rain in Wolfeboro and Merrimack.

Her children weren’t with her in Iowa, but she reassured the crowd, “You’re going to see them a lot.” It’s part of the family focus the campaign is putting forward in everything from policy positions to the image of the candidate.

And, Casey DeSantis added, she hoped her husband would make it back to the Governor’s Mansion in time to put the kids to bed.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com