Scott Walker to signal Iowa dedication with three-day tour

DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican Scott Walker will signal Iowa's importance to his presidential campaign by digging in for a three-day tour in a recreational vehicle here next week after he formally jumps into the race.

But instead of hitting first-in-the-nation Iowa first, Walker will campaign in reverse order in the early voting states, spending one day each in Nevada, South Carolina and New Hampshire before making a bigger push in Iowa, aides told The Des Moines Register. He intends to eventually visit all 99 counties.

Expectations are high in Iowa for Walker to prove his Midwest appeal in an oversized presidential field — he's governor of neighboring Wisconsin; he's the front-runner in the GOP polling here; and he lived in Plainfield as a child.

Walker reportedly will formally declare his bid for the White House on Monday in Wisconsin, making him the 15th prominent Republican to do so.

Walker spokeswoman AshLee Strong told the Register on Wednesday morning that Walker will hit the road in an RV in Iowa starting July 17. He leads off in Davenport, on Iowa's more competitive eastern side, where Republican victories are tougher than in its conservative western counties. Then he'll make stops in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines.

On July 18, he'll be in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Carroll, Ames and Marshalltown, and he will tour Cedar Falls, Plainfield and Dubuque on July 19.

Along the way, Walker will meet with activists and do local media interviews, Strong said.

While in Cedar Falls, he'll appear at an event for state Rep. Pat Grassley, the grandson of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

"Iowa's response to Governor Walker's message as a proven winner has been resoundingly positive," Strong told the Register. "This RV tour will kick off a vigorous effort to meet with voters in the state and build upon that grassroots enthusiasm. As he travels throughout Iowa in the coming months, Walker plans to pursue the 'Full Grassley' 99-county tour."

Walker, who aims for separate himself from the pack in Iowa, won't follow on the heels of candidates have campaigned one, two, three, four in the states that kick off voting in the presidential nominating process. The reverse-order gives him more time in Iowa, where he'll take a page from Joni Ernst's U.S. Senate-race-winning playbook and roam in an RV wrapped with the candidate's name.

Touring all 99 counties in Iowa is a time-consuming effort pioneered by Chuck Grassley as a way to keep in touch with constituents throughout the state each year. In the 2012 presidential election, former senator Rick Santorum pursued a 99-county strategy that carried him from near anonymity here into a very narrow victory in the GOP caucuses.

For more on this story, see The Des Moines Register.