Top conservative spenders begin investing in Iowa, opposing Trump ahead of 2024 caucuses

Two national conservative groups appear to be laying the groundwork in Iowa to oppose former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican caucuses.

The campaign arm of Club for Growth paid just over $55,000 for consulting on a "field program" in Iowa throughout May, recent filings with the Federal Elections Commission show. The money went to the Los Angeles-based Catamaran Consulting LLC, which the group has also contracted with in previous election cycles, and is marked in opposition to Trump.

Americans for Prosperity, a billionaire-financed network with an active chapter in Iowa, through its super PAC spent almost $87,000 here in recent weeks on "message research" against both President Joe Biden and Trump, according to a separate filing.

The payments mark the first major spending in Iowa this cycle from the groups, which are among the heaviest Republican spenders in the country and have indicated their opposition to Trump in 2024. Both groups combined to spend almost $140 million in the 2022 midterms.

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If the two organizations choose to continue investing in Iowa, it could mean significant resources dedicated to chipping away support for Trump, who remains the frontrunner for the GOP nomination.

“We’re getting involved earlier than ever in the presidential primary process — and that all begins right here in Iowa," said Drew Klein, adviser to the campaign arm of Americans for Prosperity's Iowa chapter.

AFP has for several weeks been running ads targeted at "key voters throughout the state," he said, with the message that "Donald Trump cannot win a general election, and America can't afford four more years of Joe Biden."

Klein said the ads were "part of AFP Action’s commitment to support a candidate in the Republican presidential primary who can lead our country forward, and who can win.”

Club for Growth did not respond to a request for comment. The groups have not endorsed in the Republican presidential primary.

Club for Growth, which was established as an anti-tax group based out of Washington, D.C., was largely aligned with Trump during his time in office.

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But since his 2020 defeat, it has clashed with the former president in proxy battles, including U.S. Senate primaries in Ohio and Pennsylvania (Trump's endorsed candidates won both primaries), and now appears prepared to try and stop him from securing the Republican nomination for 2024.

The Club for Growth president and Trump, once close allies, were not speaking after their 2022 collision course, The Washington Post reported last year. The group released a TV advertisement in May attacking Trump and Biden over Social Security, airing it alongside a LIV golf event played at Trump's course.

Americans for Prosperity, one of several entities founded by the billionaire Koch brothers, is based in Virginia and describes itself as a grassroots organization that prioritizes limited government and free markets. It has 36 state chapters, including one in Iowa, which has already begun to knock on doors ahead of the 2024 caucuses.

In 2022, the group focused its efforts and dollars on electing a slate of Republican U.S. Senate candidates across the country. It has pledged to back an alternative to Trump as the nominee in 2024.

"The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so AFP will help them do that," the group's CEO wrote in an internal memo in February.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity start spending in Iowa