
If a Republican presidential candidate wants to win the Iowa caucus, with its heavily white, heavily evangelical and churchgoing population, they need to win over Bob Vander Plaats.
Few people have had a front-row seat to Iowa’s evangelical politics than Bob Vander Plaats. In 2008, he served as Mike Huckabee’s state party chairman when he pulled off an improbable win in the Iowa caucus. Then in 2012, he endorsed Rick Santorum before he pulled off a squeaker against Mitt Romney in the first in the nation contest. In 2016, he backed Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) before the senator pulled off a victory against Donald Trump.