'Florida of the north': Ron DeSantis hitches his record to Iowa's to court Republican caucusgoers

Presidential candidates are quick to find their "Iowa connection" — a distant relative or long-past family vacation that links them to the caucusgoers they're courting.

The Iowa connection for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis? A slate of significant laws that Republican legislative majorities in both states passed.

"Maybe Florida is the Iowa of the South," DeSantis joked at a Council Bluffs speech Wednesday as the audience laughed and cheered. "You should be very grateful that you have folks that are exercising leadership and doing a great job."

In his first visit to Iowa as a declared presidential contender, DeSantis repeatedly framed Iowa and Florida as partners in a Republican crusade for “common sense.”

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He pointed toward laws in both states to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and to prohibit instruction on LGBTQ topics, and he praised Gov. Kim Reynolds for "safeguarding freedom in Iowa."

DeSantis told the Des Moines Register in an interview that voters are looking for a "winning formula" — and it's no coincidence, he said, that Iowa and Florida overwhelmingly elected Republicans in 2022.

"I think (Republican voters are) sick of the empty promises. I think they want to see the results," he said. "And so Iowa's produced results. Florida's produced results, and politically it's been very positive.”

It could be a winning strategy for DeSantis to woo fired-up Iowa Republicans, especially after GOP voters delivered a commanding 19-point reelection victory for Reynolds last year. When Reynolds spoke at the DeSantis campaign launch Tuesday evening, the crowd surged to their feet and stayed standing through her address.

“In both Iowa and in Florida, we are standing up for you, we are standing up for your values, and most importantly, we are standing up for your freedoms," Reynolds said.

Marie Andersen, a 75-year-old Council Bluffs resident, is a fan of both Reynolds and DeSantis.

“Gov. Reynolds has been extremely successful in accomplishing a lot of things that were really important to me, and so has Gov. DeSantis,” said Anderson, who volunteered at DeSantis' Council Bluffs event Wednesday.

Anderson said she supports policies to remove "garbage books" from school, to prohibit abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, and to provide state money to families for private school tuition.

More: 5 times Ron DeSantis took some pointed jabs at Donald Trump in Iowa while campaigning

"There's just so many things that (DeSantis) has done down there," she said. "It's such a long list, and it's so similar to Gov. Reynolds'."

DeSantis held events across Iowa Wednesday, traveling from a welding company near Sioux City to a racetrack in Cedar Rapids. It’s his first swing through Iowa after announcing his presidential candidacy last week.

Chuck Newburn, a 74-year-old Sioux City resident, observed how "prosperous" Florida has been.

"His entire agenda, there's really nothing I disagree with," Newburn said moments before DeSantis swept into the venue.

Many of the Florida policies that DeSantis highlights as a presidential candidate are laws that Iowa has already enacted.

Here's a look at some laws where the two states overlap — and others where they differ.

Abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy

DeSantis signed a law in April that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Reynolds signed the same law in 2018.

However, the laws in both states have been blocked by court challenges.

Reynolds has asked the Iowa Supreme Court to overturn a permanent injunction on the six-week ban, allowing it to take effect. The six-week ban in Florida would take effect only if the Florida Supreme Court rules against the state's current 15-week ban in an ongoing legal challenge.

Former president Donald Trump, DeSantis' primary foe for the Republican nomination, called a six-week ban "too harsh."

"To say that that's harsh when there's a beating heart at stake, I don't know where you would get that," DeSantis told the Des Moines Register Wednesday. "And so I think most people that are going to participate in the Iowa caucus are going to be thankful that Governor Reynolds did that. And I think that they will be appreciative of what we were able to do in Florida."

Restricting LGBTQ instruction

DeSantis made national headlines last year when he signed a law that prohibited instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade. Critics dubbed the law "Don't Say Gay," arguing it would harm LGBTQ students and teachers.

Reynolds signed a similar bill into law last week, which will prohibit instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation through sixth grade. Meanwhile, Florida lawmakers expanded their initial law to ban instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation through 12th grade.

Gender-affirming care for transgender minors

Both Iowa and Florida have passed laws this year that forbid doctors from providing gender-affirming care to transgender minors.

The mainstream medical establishment supports gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth as a treatment for gender dysphoria, the distress felt when someone's gender identity doesn't align with their sex assigned at birth.

State-funded private school scholarships

Florida and Iowa passed laws this year to offer state-funded private school scholarships to all families, regardless of income.

The proposal was a cornerstone of Reynolds' reelection campaign. The Iowa Legislature passed the bill within the first two weeks of the session.

More: Families can now apply for Iowa's new $7,600 education savings accounts. Here's how:

Eliminating the state income tax

Iowa and Florida aren't completely in lock-step: Florida has no income tax.

"Y'all should try it sometime," DeSantis told a crowd in Council Bluffs. "I know your governor is working on that."

Some Republican lawmakers in Iowa say they aspire to eliminate the income tax, but a bill to do so did not advance in 2023. Reynolds has said she wants to eliminate the income tax as well.

A previously published version of this story misidentified DeSantis' Cedar Rapids stop. It was at a racetrack.

Katie Akin is a politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at kakin@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: DeSantis touts overlap between Florida and Iowa laws in caucus trip