Trump's Republican challengers make their final pitch in Des Moines before Caucus Day

Sally and Dean Hosfelt get breakfast at Grounds for Celebration Coffee in Des Moines before church every Sunday.

But on this Sunday, the day before the Iowa caucuses, former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh and a gaggle of young reporters interrupted their ritual.

The octogenarian Hosfelts, some of the few Iowans in attendance at the event, were not impressed by Walsh, a Republican candidate for president.

"I have a lot of friends who would vote for somebody against (President) Donald Trump," said Sally Hosfelt, an 80-year-old former special education teacher who thought Walsh was too liberal to attract Iowa Republicans.

Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, another Republican challenging Trump for the nomination, spent the final hours before the Iowa caucuses campaigning in coffee shops and stores around Des Moines.

The hand-shaking and retail politicking was on a smaller scale than the events of many Democratic candidates in the race, who have hosted rallies of increasing size in the final weeks before the caucus. Trump himself drew 7,000 supporters to a rally in Des Moines last Thursday.

The Trump campaign also plans to deploy more than 80 surrogates, including advisers and members of the Trump family, to Iowa on Caucus Day.

Trump has a stronghold on Iowa Republicans, according to Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Polls from this cycle.

In the November 2019 poll, registered Iowa Republicans who didn't plan to attend a Democratic caucus overwhelmingly supported the president.

His overall job approval was up 4 percentage points from March 2019 to 85%. The percentage of those who said they will definitely vote to re-elect him was up 9 percentage points to 76%.

"You know, my expectations here are modest," Weld said. "I'm well aware that a lot of other candidates have spent a great deal more time in Iowa than I have."

Weld has prioritized first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire, which neighbors his home state of Massachusetts, over Iowa. But Walsh, who has visited Iowa more frequently, thinks he'll be able to turn out a significant number of voters tomorrow night.

And while Walsh said he hopes to win, his main goal is to surprise people — including Trump.

"We think turnout is going to be low, so if we can get people out, we can surprise people," Walsh said.

"I want to do well enough that Donald Trump sends me a crazy tweet," he told reporters Sunday.

Katie Akin is a politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at kakin@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8041. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.

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