One voter shows up at Santorum event in Iowa

At first, one was the loneliest number for Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Monday.

Just one Iowan showed up at 2 p.m. campaign stop Monday at a restaurant in the unincorporated community of Hamlin, population 300, according to a report from The Des Moines Register — Peggy Toft, an insurance agent who chairs the county’s Republican Party.


“We didn’t have a lot of notice that he was going to be there,” Toft said in a telephone interview with POLITICO, explaining the low turnout.

But even she would not endorse Santorum outright.

The Audubon County Republican chair said that she is “leaning” toward supporting Santorum but has not yet made a decision about whom she would support in the caucus.

“I feel like I have to get all of the facts,” she said.

The presidential candidate spoke for about 10 minutes one-on-one with Toft, outlining what differentiates him from the rest of the Republican field, she said.

Toft said she agrees with Santorum’s views on the Affordable Care Act, marriage, family and his overall conservative views.

The two also discussed Santorum’s business experience.

“It helps a lot as far as grassroots,” she said. “Should I decide to vote for him, I will get the word out.”

Eventually, there were four Iowans gathered at Santorum’s table (not counting photographers and campaign aides), where the 2016 hopeful lunched on a breaded tenderloin with a side of onion rings.

Santorum told the Register that the low turnout was not surprising, but that it is all a part of the plan.

“It’s not glamorous, and you’re not out there raising money, but you’re doing what the money is ultimately supposed to do — getting votes,” Santorum told the Register. “This is a lot more fun than being on the phone raising money.”

The lunch stopover in Hamlin came during the former Pennsylvania senator’s latest swing through the crucial early-primary state, where he narrowly prevailed over Mitt Romney by just 34 votes in the 2012 caucus.

He drew a slightly larger crowd in nearby Panora, Iowa, when 10 people showed up to ask him questions about his positions at a telecommunications company.

While posing for photos outside Darrell’s Place, Santorum called the event a success, emphasizing the importance of every vote in the caucus system.

“People don’t understand. One guy in there said, ‘I’ll speak for you at the caucus,’” Santorum said. “That’s maybe eight votes that you wouldn’t otherwise get. Eight votes can make a big difference, as I know.”

In 2011, Santorum visited all 99 counties in Iowa, a tour chronicled by the 2013 documentary “Caucus,” he noted.