Patricia Greiner holds a caucus candidate slip Monday, January 15, at Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School in Reinbeck. Greiner was committed to voting for Trump and believes “absolutely, totally, 100%” he can win the general election. PHOTO BY JEFF MORRISON/BETWEEN TWO RIVERS SUBSTACK

REINBECK – Voters Monday at the Grundy County Precinct 6 Republican caucus overwhelmingly favored former president Donald Trump to be their presidential nominee for 2024. The precinct met at the Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School auditorium.

Trump received 65 votes, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 17, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy 15 and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley 10 in the precinct covering southeast Grundy County. Trump won a bare majority of votes in both the county and state of Iowa overall, according to results posted late Monday night. About 110,000 votes were cast statewide.

To describe Grundy County as “rock-ribbed Republican” would be an understatement. It is one of three counties in the eastern half of Iowa that didn’t vote for a Democrat for president at least once in the past 30 years, and one of six overall that hasn’t done it since Franklin D. Roosevelt was on the ballot. It went just under two-thirds for Trump in the 2016 general election and just over two-thirds for him in 2020.

In the 2016 caucuses, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz won Reinbeck’s precinct, Grundy County and Iowa.

The temperature at caucus time was 8 degrees below zero, with a wind chill of 30 below, and there was no warmth for President Joe Biden inside.

Precinct secretary Kim Dripps and Grundy County Republican Party chairman Brian Andersen count votes Monday, January 15, at Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School in Reinbeck. Former president Donald Trump won the precinct with 65 of 107 votes. PHOTO BY JEFF MORRISON/BETWEEN TWO RIVERS SUBSTACK

Lynn Pakala talked about his support for Trump in an interview before the caucus began. “Under his presidency we had no border issues in our country, Israel, or Ukraine. … He had China at bay.” Asked if he thought Trump could win the general election, he responded, “Without a doubt, if it’s not rigged.”

Sarah Rickelman, participating in her third caucus, favored DeSantis. She liked his stances against abortion and “gender-changing surgeries.” “I think he can stand up for what Iowans want” in Washington, she said.

Grundy County Republican Party chairman Brian Andersen led Monday’s proceedings. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, an invocation and selection of delegates for the county convention, the floor was opened for persuasive speeches, one person per candidate.

Kambridge Wainscott, who had a table outside the door for Vivek Ramaswamy, spoke in favor of the businessman. Wainscott talked about Ramaswamy’s pledges of security, ending corruption and leading the next generation of the “America First” movement.

Carol Petersen came with a prepared speech for DeSantis. She began with calling Trump’s accomplishments “praiseworthy” but worried about “chaos heaped upon us when we must be concentrating on restoring our country so damaged by Biden policies.”

Kambridge Wainscott stands next to a table of materials for Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Monday, January 15, at Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School in Reinbeck. Ramaswamy dropped out of the race later that night. PHOTO BY JEFF MORRISON/BETWEEN TWO RIVERS SUBSTACK

“Our country is infected with wokeness, DEI, encouraged gender confusion and the threat of ESG controlling our lives,” Petersen said. (The acronyms stand for “diversity, equity and inclusion” and “environmental, social and governance.”) DeSantis “has attacked them head-on, with no fear of political consequences, of which there were many.”

No one spoke in favor of businessman/pastor Ryan Binkley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (who, despite dropping out last week, was on the printed form), Haley or former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Haley would have had one more vote if 8-year-old Alleigh Janousek could have participated. She had met both Haley and Ramaswamy and called them “amazing.” Ramaswamy “believes in God a lot,” while Haley said Janousek was made to do great things.

But the final word of the night belonged to Pakala who, although he hadn’t planned to, spoke up for Trump before votes were taken.

Trump “has what it takes to stand up to the corruption,” he said. Trump “drained the swamp, he started doing it, and the people ran.”

“Chaos? Bring it.”

Jeff Morrison is the writer behind the website “Iowa Highway Ends.” He grew up in Traer and now lives in Cedar Rapids. A version of this article was originally published in the Between Two Rivers newsletter. It is republished here with permission of the author.