NationalWatch

Jack Stollsteimer, the top prosecutor in heavily populated Delaware County, will run for Pennsylvania attorney general in 2024, he announced Monday, seeking an office that played a critical role in court defending Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the presidential battleground.

Stollsteimer joins a Democratic primary field that is already four-deep in which he will be the only elected prosecutor. However, his competition for the Democratic nomination features veterans of the campaign trail and the courtroom.

In his campaign for attorney general, Stollsteimer will lean heavily on his experience as the twice-elected district attorney of Delaware County, Pennsylvania’s fifth-most populous county sitting between Philadelphia and Delaware.

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“I am uniquely qualified because I do that work every single day in the fifth-largest county in Pennsylvania,” Stollsteimer said in an interview.

Stollsteimer, 60, has been a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, a top official in the state Treasury Department, the state-appointed safety advocate in Philadelphia’s schools and, before college, a senior aide to state House Democrats. A Philadelphia native, Stollsteimer earned his law degree at Temple University.

The attorney general’s office, the state’s top law enforcement office, has a budget of about $140 million annually and plays a prominent role in arresting drug traffickers, fighting gun trafficking, defending state laws in court and protecting consumers from predatory practices.

The office also defended the integrity of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election against repeated attempts to overturn it in state and federal courts by Donald Trump’s campaign and Republican allies.

Perhaps Stollsteimer’s most-touted achievement is fighting gun violence in the impoverished city of Chester, using a partnership based on a model used successfully elsewhere to connect offenders or known criminals with job training, school or community-building programs.

His office says gun homicides are down by 68% since 2020 and there have been 65% fewer shootings.

As Philadelphia’s state-appointed safe schools advocate, Stollsteimer clashed with district officials and the state Department of Education over what he described as an unwillingness to report violent incidents.

“Things have gotten worse, not better,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2011. “You can’t address the problem until you’re honest about it, and the district is not honest about it.”

Stollsteimer mounted a brief campaign for attorney general in 2015 but dropped out before the primary.

In 2019, he won his race for district attorney, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office in Delaware County, once a Republican bastion that Democrats now control. Stollsteimer won reelection earlier this month by 22 percentage points, drawing support from unions for building trades and police.

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Stollsteimer had a busy four years in office. In perhaps the highest-profile case, his office prosecuted three police officers for responding to a shooting outside a high school football game by opening fire at a car, killing an 8-year-old girl, Fanta Bility, and wounding two others.

Stollsteimer is now the fifth Democrat to announce his candidacy, after state Rep. Jared Solomon of Philadelphia, former state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, former federal prosecutor Joe Kahn and Keir Bradford-Grey, the former head of Philadelphia’s and Montgomery County’s public defense lawyers.

On the Republican side, York County District Attorney Dave Sunday and former federal prosecutor Katayoun Copeland have announced their candidacies.

Candidates must file paperwork by Feb. 13 to appear on the April 23 primary ballot.

Attorney General Michelle Henry does not plan to run to keep the office.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently earned two key Iowa endorsements as he continues to push campaign resources into the state, a move that political experts tell Fox News Digital is an “all in” strategy as he looks to upset former President Trump in an uphill battle that could make or break his presidential ambitions next year.

Shortly after receiving the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, DeSantis was endorsed by influential Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats who said “there’s definitely a shot that the former president can be beat here” despite Trump leading DeSantis by at least 30 points, according to the Real Clear Politics average, with just over six weeks until the Iowa caucus. 

“Americans like winners and want to be part of winning,” David Avella, chairman of GOPAC and a veteran Republican strategist, told Fox News Digital. “History tells us that the nominee will be the individual who wins at least two of the first three contests. While history also tells us that an Iowa victory is not essential, it is clear that Team DeSantis is seeking a victory to counter the inevitability of former President Trump being nominated again. It may prove effective, yet it has to work given the resources and attention Team DeSantis has put into Iowa.”

DeSantis and his primary Super PAC, Never Back Down, have poured a vast majority of their resources into Iowa in a strategy that GOP strategist Alex Conant, founding partner at Firehouse Strategies, told Fox News Digital is a strategy born out of “necessity” and that recognizes the “political reality that if Trump wins Iowa” it is “hard to see how he is stopped anywhere.”

HALEY, DESANTIS OR TRUMP? WHO WILL TOP-DOLLAR DONORS BACKING TIM SCOTT SUPPORT NEXT IN 2024 GOP RACE

“This is the equivalent of a Hail Mary,” Conant said. “It could work like when John McCain went all in in New Hampshire in 2008, and he shocked the political world by emerging as the nominee. Barack Obama did the same thing in 2008 in Iowa when he was going up against Hillary Clinton when he went Iowa or bust, and he won Iowa and went on to win the nomination. There is plenty of precedent for a candidate going all in on one state.”

Despite the historical precedent of late Iowa surges and candidates using Iowa as a springboard to the nomination, Conant said 2024 is not a “normal primary” with Trump in position as a “de facto incumbent” where he says the other candidates have so far failed to effectively explain why he should be unseated.

“The good news for Ron DeSantis is he is the front-runner in Iowa if former President Trump was not competing to win Iowa,” Avella told Fox News Digital. “The bad news for Ron DeSantis is former President Trump is organizing to win Iowa. For DeSantis to win, he needs to get [there to] caucus those voters who are still keeping their options open and those voters who are only considering candidates other than Donald Trump. It is going to take him convincing voters with a clear, concise message that his ideas are the best solutions.”

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In terms of the messaging needed for a late surge, Conant told Fox News Digital that the DeSantis campaign has been “too much about Florida.”

“The truth of the matter is people in Iowa don’t care about your record in other states. They want to know what you’re going to do for them as president,” said Conant, who served as communications director for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign that came close to winning Iowa after a late surge in 2016.

“Republican voters are clear that the cost of everyday living and failure with border security are their top concerns,” Avella said. “Ron DeSantis has to convince voters with a clear, concise message that his ideas are the best solutions.”

Ashley Hayek, executive director of America First Works, told Fox News Digital that DeSantis’s strategy in the next few weeks is “irrelevant” with the outcome “already decided” thanks to Trump’s “significant influence” in the Republican Party.

“Voters are nostalgic for the economic successes under Trump, often referred to as ‘Trumpanomics,’” Hayek said. “It’s akin to a company rehiring a former CEO who previously steered them through prosperous times; the familiarity and proven track record are irresistible. The Republican nominee is essentially pre-decided with Trump’s rehire on the horizon by early 2024.”

DESANTIS SAYS TRUMP IS ‘HIGH RISK,’ ‘LOW REWARD’ GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

Several prominent DeSantis donors told Fox News Digital this month that they were encouraged by how he was campaigning in Iowa and expressed the belief that Iowa voters are just now starting to pay close attention to the January caucus. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, DeSantis Communications Director Andrew Romeo said the Florida governor is the only candidate who can beat Trump regardless of where the primary is.

“Ron DeSantis is the only candidate with the organization, resources, and message necessary to beat Trump in multiple early states – including the first and most important state on the calendar,” Romeo said. “That’s why Team Trump continues to attack him every day.” 

The super PAC backing Trump’s campaign revived attack ads against DeSantis last month, spending millions going after DeSantis in the past few weeks, which Romeo referred to on social media as a public admission that DeSantis is “climbing in Iowa.”

DeSantis surrogates have made the case that polling is different from turnout and that responding to a poll is different from actually showing up on a cold winter night in Iowa to caucus for a candidate.

“It will take a turnout operation unlike any in electoral history to get voters to show up on a cold night to vote for a candidate who is down 15 points,” Avella said.

If DeSantis is to make a late surge, Conant said a “strong third” or “distant second” “isn’t going to cut it against Trump,” especially with DeSantis polling as low as fifth in New Hampshire and South Carolina being strong states for Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

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Avella concurred and said Trump has “such a commanding lead that even a second-place finish may not be enough to alter the current likely outcome.”

“The real question is how much is a second-, maybe third-place finish in Iowa worth?” Hayek said. “Despite rounds of layoffs that were part of a widely publicized ‘reset,’ DeSantis has burned through more primary cash than he raised over the last three months. The DeSantis campaign’s spending strategy shows they see the writing on the wall: there is not enough gas in the tank for New Hampshire or South Carolina, and at this rate, there is not going to be enough for Iowa either.”

They’re two relatively young and very high-profile governors of large states who have a knack for grabbing national attention and firing up the bases of their respective political parties.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who have been trading fire for nearly two years, will tangle once again this week — but this time their slugfest will be in person.

DeSantis, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and Newsom — who Republican critics charge is running a shadow campaign for the White House even though he repeatedly stomps on such speculation as “ridiculous” — will face off Thursday in a debate moderated by Fox News’ prime-time opinion host Sean Hannity.

The showdown, titled “DeSantis vs. Newsom: The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate,” will take in Alpharetta, Georgia — a one-time red state that’s become a top general election battleground between the two major political parties.

DESANTIS SAYS HIS WAR OF WORDS WITH NEWSOM ‘IS ALL BUSINESS’

“He caters to a very far left slice of the electorate. I think that will be on display when we have the debate,” DeSantis said as he spoke with Fox News Digital earlier this week during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

Newsom, in an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” earlier this autumn, pointed towards DeSantis and emphasized that “I don’t like people who demonize other people or go after vulnerable communities. I also don’t like liars.”

NEWSOM’S POTENTIAL PRESIDENITAL AMBITIONS FRONT AND CENTER AS HE TOUTS BIDEN AT SECOND GOP DEBATE

Both governors have outsized national profiles, run the nation’s first and third most populous states, and overwhelmingly won gubernatorial re-elections last year, when their rivalry really heated up.

In 2022, Newsom went up with an ad on Florida airwaves that targeted DeSantis’ culture war approach to politics and policies. “Freedom, it’s under attack in your state. Republican leaders, they’re banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors,” Newsom argued in his spot.

DeSantis, who became a hero to conservatives nationwide for his pushback against coronavirus pandemic restrictions, earlier this year called San Francisco — the city Newsom served two terms as mayor — a “dumpster fire.”

The governors — who’ve long battled on social media over their very different COVID policies — this year have traded fire over the move by DeSantis to fly undocumented migrants from to California. The Florida governor has made border security a top issue in recent years and has repeatedly highlighted his efforts on the 2024 Republican presidential campaign trail.

Last week, a Newsom-aligned political group started running an ad on Fox News’ ‘Hannity” that slammed DeSantis over the six-week abortion ban in Florida that he signed into law earlier this year.

“They’re perfect foils for one another. They both lead some of the biggest states in the country. They both have very prominent roles in their respective parties, and they both love attention,” longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams told Fox News.

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Williams, a veteran of numerous presidential and statewide campaigns, noted that “it’s in their best interests to attack one another. It gets both of their bases riled up. And it gives them a national platform to fight with each other.”

DeSantis, once the clear alternative to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP nomination race, has seen his standing erode over the summer and autumn. He’s currently battling with former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for second place in the polls, far behind Trump, who remains the commanding Republican front-runner as he makes his third straight White House run.

Newsom is one of the most high-profile surrogates for Biden, who’s running for a second term as president. But the 81-year-old president, saddled for over two-years with underwater approval ratings, has increasingly in recent months faced questions regarding his physical and cognitive ability to serve another four years in the White House. And Biden narrowly trails Trump in many of the most recent polls looking ahead to a likely 2024 general election matchup.

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While Newsom has repeatedly shot down speculation he would run for the White House next year should something happen to Biden, a well-publicized trip by the California governor to Israel and China last month sparked further buzz about his possible 2024 ambitions.

DeSantis, speaking with Fox News Digital, argued that “I’ve been warning Republican voters… it may not be Biden in 2024.”

“This guy is running a shadow campaign. He denies it, but even people in his own party are saying it,” DeSantis said of Newsom. “You have [Vice President Kamala] Harris, you have a lot of these other people who could end up running in 2024 if Biden’s not able to do it. I think there’s a lot of people in the Democratic Party who do not want Biden to run. Ultimately, it’s going to be his decision, but I think there’s a lot of pressure there for him to take a step back.”

Fox News’ Jamie Joseph contributed to this report

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis is upping his game on the campaign trail in Iowa, away from his home state in Florida. Voters in the two states say they support him — but for contrasting reasons.

Iowa residents who support DeSantis told Fox News they admired his willingness to be tough on the U.S. border and say his immigration policies have a national appeal.

“I like the fact that he’s supporting the border. You can’t just let people run through,” said Pam from Sigourney, Iowa.

Steve in Davenport, Iowa, agreed, adding the border is his top concern and that DeSantis caught his eye with his stance on containing the migrant flow.

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“We can’t keep having this invasion of people. We don’t know who is coming in here. Everybody forgets 9/11 and it can happen again. It only took 19 people to do it. And we just let 8 million people come in here. So, it’s time to stand up and get this thing shut down,” he said.

The border is among top concerns for voters nationwide too. A NBC News National poll shows 74% of registered voters support more funding for security along the U.S.-Mexico border. Voters overwhelmingly support funding the border instead of foreign aid packages.

David Kochel, a longtime Iowa-based GOP strategist says if candidates want to do well in Iowa, they need to be able to showcase their stance on securing the border.

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“To the extent that these candidates can get some traction on that issue and talk about it and show that they have a plan and that they care about how voters feel on this, I think they’re going to do well,” Kochel said. “And it certainly is a thing that Governor DeSantis talks about. It’s a high-profile issue for most voters and especially in Iowa.”

But in Florida, residents told Fox News they support DeSantis for his local accomplishments. None of the voters Fox News interviewed mentioned supporting DeSantis for his border or immigration policies.

Theresa from Madeira beach said she backs DeSantis for his unwavering conservative policies in the state.

“I just like that he tries to keep everything intact with how all of the state wants to continue as Republicans and go forward with all of the issues that we’re confronted with daily on,” she said. 

Harley from Treasure Island gave a specific example, saying he appreciates DeSantis taking a stand in his feud with Disney.

“I love what he did over at Disney. I’m with him on everything and there’s so many crazy things that are going on right now,” he said.

Kochel said Florida residents have seen his policies play out in front of them and DeSantis is able to tout his local successes to Floridians on the trail.

“They saw how he handled COVID. They see how he handles tax policy, education policy and everything else,” said Kochel. “In Iowa what he emphasizes, on the campaign, might be a little different, although he has talked quite a bit about his Florida record.”

As the first state to vote in the presidential nominating cycle, Iowa is key for GOP candidates ahead of the mid-January caucus. This week, DeSantis secured the latest endorsement out of the Hawkeye state from influential evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats. Evangelicals make up nearly two-thirds of Republicans voters in Iowa.

Kochel said Vander Plaat’s endorsement is the last major endorsement out of Iowa.

“He [Vander Plaats] certainly has his finger on the pulse of where Iowa activists are,” said Kochel. “He’s had a pretty good track record of picking winners in the Iowa caucuses. You know, he’s been with the last three caucus winners.” 

But Kochel says candidates still have plenty of time to make their pitch to Iowa voters.

“Iowa voters like to wait until the last minute and make up their minds,” he said. “A lot of people will wait and make up their minds in the last 10 or 12 days. So, what we see right now may not be the way this race closes out in in a few weeks.”

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An NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll last month shows Trump’s strong lead at 43% and Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley tied for second at 16%.

“I think President Trump has made it into the finals already because of his national support,” said Kochel. “He’s almost running as an incumbent. But I think the real fight is for Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis to see who can emerge after the first 2 or 3 states as the primary challenger to Trump, because the only way to beat President Trump is to get him one on one.”

DeSantis has visited 98 out of 99 Iowa counties, one county away from completing the “Full Grassley”, a statewide tour named after longtime Iowa senator Chuck Grassley. Nicole Schlinger, an Iowa-based GOP strategist says DeSantis is in full Iowa mode.

“They’ve had the biggest ground game in Iowa for some time right now. And they’re you know, they’re running a very traditional grassroots caucus campaign,” said Schlinger.

With less than two months until the first-in-the-nation Iowa Republican caucuses, DeSantis has the endorsement from Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds. Reynolds is arguably the most prominent player in Iowa Republican politics and very popular among Republicans in the Hawkeye state. 

While endorsing DeSantis she said, “I just felt like I couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer. We have too much at stake.”

Schlinger said Iowa voters value the endorsement because he was able to turn Florida red.

“I think in terms of why he has a strong showing, a person who has been a conservative, successful governor in a large state and has helped to turn a somewhat purple state very red, is going to be appealing to Iowa caucus goers,” Schlinger said.

One Iowa voter says Reynolds’ endorsement holds weight and will boost DeSantis in the caucus. 

“She is loved here and the work the work that she’s done, she is respected, and her endorsement is definitely going to swing things in his favor, I think. Definitely,” said Jake.

Schlinger says the Iowa caucus will set the stage for all primaries to follow.

“It’s long been said that there’s three tickets that get punched out of Iowa,” she said. “And so our job isn’t necessarily to pick the nominee. It’s to winnow the field. And if there are three tickets punched out of Iowa going into New Hampshire, that makes New Hampshire a much different race.”

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Kochel says the winner in Iowa will remain up in the air and no candidate has the nomination secured yet.

“I think there’s probably a surprise in store. Iowa usually has one, and we’ll see who that benefits in 2024 on January 15th. So I think we’ve got to stay tuned and see what happens,” he said.

Former President Trump blasted American leaders as there were no U.S. citizens released in the past few days by Hamas.

Hamas terrorists released 17 hostages late Saturday, and 24 on Friday, but none of them were any of the 10 American citizens being held, including 4-year-old Avigail Idan. The release of hostages comes as Israel and Hamas have agreed to a four-day cease-fire.

Fifty hostages held by Hamas are expected to be released within the four-day window, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. In exchange, 150 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel will be released.

“Has anybody noticed that Hamas has returned people from other Countries but, so far, has not returned one American Hostage? There is only one reason for that, NO RESPECT FOR OUR COUNTRY OR OUR LEADERSHIP. This is a very sad and dark period of America!” Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social.

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Two American nationals held hostage by Hamas were released Oct. 20, but no U.S. citizen has been released since then.

While on vacation in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Friday, President Biden said he still expects American hostages to be released.

BIDEN UNSURE WHEN AMERICAN HOSTAGES WILL BE FREED BY HAMAS: ‘WE DON’T KNOW’

“We don’t know when that will occur, but we’re going to expect it to occur,” Biden said. “We don’t know what the list of all the hostages are and when they will be released, but we know the numbers that are going to be released, So, it’s my hope and expectation it will be soon.”

Biden added that he didn’t know the conditions of Americans being held hostage by Hamas. While walking on the island Saturday, he told reporters, “I‘m hopeful you’ll see something soon,” when asked about American hostages.

According to U.S. intelligence, approximately 10 Americans are among those being held hostage by Hamas.

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Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., wrote on X that Biden should be doing more in order for the American hostages to be released.

Fox News’ Greg Norman, Lucas Tomlinson, Trey Yingst, Andrea Vacchiano and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

President Biden retreated to Nantucket, where he normally finds reprieve from the demands of running the country, but pro-Palestinian protesters managed to track him down and remain a reminder of the troubles waiting for him. 

The protesters found Biden twice on Friday, once as he departed lunch with his family and again when they attended a tree-lighting ceremony. Each time, they shouted now-familiar slogans, including “Free Palestine” and “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide!”

If the president heard them, he didn’t let them know: Biden focused on greeting members of the children’s choir who performed at the tree lighting. A local official tried to dissuade the protesters from interrupting the ceremony, stressing that it was not a political event. 

Biden’s staunch support for Israel has come at a price as his party finds itself divided over the war in the Gaza Strip. His polling numbers have slumped as younger voters and members of his party stand in favor of the Palestinian people, who have died by the thousands during Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza. 

BIDEN ADMIN WILL HAVE TO USE LEVERAGE IF AMERICANS AREN’T RELEASED, WARNS MORGAN ORTAGUS

NBC political correspondent Steve Kornacki earlier this week highlighted just how hard Biden’s numbers have fallen by revealing that former President Trump beats Biden in a hypothetical general match-up for the first time in the network’s poll history. 

“The gap is gone,” Kornacki said. “36% positive on both and actually Biden, one point more negative than Trump. That’s been a significant advantage for Biden, our poll says that advantage, at least for now, may be gone.” 

DEMOCRATS HAVE A ‘QUANDRY’ WITH PRO-ISRAEL AND PRO-PALESTINIAN BASES: LEO TERRELL

Biden had to delay the start of his annual post-Thanksgiving unwind with the family as he spent Friday morning attending multiple briefings with national security aides, who were updating him as Hamas released the first phase of hostages per their agreement with Israel as part of a four-day ceasefire. 

He then managed to catch up with the family for their regular lunch, which preceded some local shopping and mingling with the Nantucket crowd before the tree lighting. The family ate at the Brotherhood of Thieves bar and grill, which promotes itself as a “1840s whaling bar.” 

IF MANCHIN RUNS FOR PRESIDENT, WILL HE BE A SPOILER AND THROW THE ELECTION TO TRUMP?

The president walked out of Nantucket Books with a copy of Democracy Awakening by historian Heather Cox Richardson, who interviewed Biden at the White House last year. He remarked that he couldn’t visit Nantucket “without going to the book store . . . we’ve got a tradition.” 

The last stop before the tree lighting saw the Bidens’ stop off at the Jeweler’s Gallery, where a crowd wished him a happy birthday and took photos with the first family. 

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The Bidens arrived on Nantucket Tuesday night, taking up residence at the home of billionaire David Rubenstein. Secret Service prepared the island five days ahead of Air Force One touching down, including a surge of Massachusetts State Police Troopers to boost security. 

Rubenstein, a friend of the Bidens whose net worth is estimated at over $3.5 billion, has offered his property to the family for their Thanksgiving celebrations since at least 2021, Forbes reported. He acquired the property in 1998 for $8 million with his ex-wife, Alice, and has expanded the compound with five additional guest structures. 

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The lavish coastal property on Abram’s Point includes several guest houses, a tennis court, a hot tub and a pool and has an estimated total value of more than $34 million, according to the Nantucket Assessor’s office. 

FOX Business’s Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

One of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s accusers filed a lawsuit in Albany Wednesday claiming he repeatedly sexually harassed her. 

Brittany Commisso began working for Cuomo in 2017.

Her lawsuit comes under the Adult Survivors Act, which extended the period of time individuals could file a sexual harassment claim from the time an incident allegedly happened. According to CBS, Commisso’s time limit expired Thursday at midnight.

Cuomo resigned as governor in August 2021 following sexual misconduct allegations by Commisso and several other women. He has denied the allegations.

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Commisso’s lawsuit alleges “continuous sexual harassment” and retaliation by Cuomo and seeks monetary damages against the former governor.

Commisso’s allegations led to a criminal charge against Cuomo that was eventually dismissed last year at the request of Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who described her as credible but said he couldn’t prove the case.

CUOMO EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT COMES FORWARD, ALLEGES NY GOVERNOR ‘BROKE THE LAW’

In a statement to the press, Cuomo’s attorney, Rita Glavin, said Commisso’s claims in the lawsuit “are provably false, which is why the Albany District Attorney dismissed the case two years ago after a thorough investigation.” 

“Ms. Commisso’s transparent attempt at a cash grab will fail. We look forward to seeing her in court,” the statement said.

WHO IS CUOMO ACCUSER BRITTANY COMMISSO?

Commisso was identified as “Executive Assistant No. 1” in Attorney General Letitia James’ 2021 report accusing Cuomo of sexually harassing 11 women, including current and former state employees, from 2013 to 2020, in violation of state and federal law. 

Commisso testified that Cuomo grabbed her rear while they took a selfie in the executive mansion in 2019, and that in 2020 he reached under her blouse and grabbed her breast.

In her testimony, Commisso said Cuomo routinely talked about her physical appearance and repeatedly made sexually suggestive comments when she worked with him at the executive mansion in Albany. She said he would also ask about her divorce and whether she had ever had sex with other men during her marriage.

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In 2019, Commisso said Cuomo put his hand on her backside while guiding her through the executive mansion. 

In December of that same year, she said she was with Cuomo at the executive mansion when he asked her to take a “selfie” with him. She said as they were posing for the photo, Cuomo moved his hand “onto my butt” and rubbed it for “at least five seconds.”

Fox News’ Jessica Chasmar and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Democrat presidential candidate and Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips is going all in on his effort to beat President Biden in the race for their party’s 2024 nomination.

In a Friday interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, the three-term congressman and millionaire businessman said he would not be running for re-election to the House of Representatives, arguing that a return to Congress after challenging Biden would be “both unproductive and uncomfortable.”

Phillips said it was time to “pass the torch” to another candidate, citing his intention to still be in the presidential race beyond Minnesota’s June filing deadline to run for office.

BIDEN UNSURE WHEN AMERICAN HOSTAGES WILL BE FREED BY HAMAS: ‘WE DON’T KNOW’

“It would be irresponsible to continue to string both my constituents along and the other candidates who both have entered the race and who might be interested in entering the race,” he said.

In a post on X following the interview, Phillips said serving Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District was “the most joyful experience” of his life, but that it was “time for change.”

“Our best days are yet to come!” he added.

TOP DESANTIS BACKER RESIGNS FROM SUPER PAC AMID INTERNAL TURMOIL: ‘UNTENABLE’ ENVIRONMENT

In a separate statement, Phillips described serving alongside his colleagues as “an honor of a lifetime,” and described part of his tenure as “some of the darkest days in our nation’s history.”

Phillips’ announcement comes just days after he angered some fellow Democrats with a dig at Vice President Kamala Harris, who he said voters had no faith in to succeed Biden should such a situation arise.

“I hear from others who know her a lot better than I do that many think she’s not well positioned,” Phillips said of Harris, in an interview with The Atlantic. “She is not well-prepared, doesn’t have the right disposition and the right competencies to execute that office.”

PRO-TRUMP CANDIDATE BEATS MODERATE DEM IN UTAH SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL LAST SEAT IN US HOUSE

He also said that “Harris’ approval numbers are even worse than Biden’s,” before adding, “It’s pretty clear that she’s not somebody people have faith in.”

Phillips issued an apology to Harris on Wednesday, explaining that his comments were not reflective of his “personal experience” with the vice president, and that he respects her.

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His challenge to Biden is expected to be a long shot in the race for the White House despite concern over the president’s age and his ailing poll numbers compared to former President Donald Trump, who leads the primary polls on the Republican side.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Incumbent Erin Mendenhall has won her reelection bid for mayor of Utah’s capital in a ranked-choice contest that included a challenge by Salt Lake City’s former Mayor Rocky Anderson.

Ballot returns released Wednesday, which included all scannable ballots in the Salt Lake County clerk’s possession, showed Mendenhall with 58% of the vote to Anderson’s 34%, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

UTAH REPUBLICAN SEEKING TO REPLACE ROMNEY ACCUSED OF FALSIFYING ENDORSEMENTS, STRONG-ARMING GOP FOR SUPPORT

“As seemed pretty clear last night, these more final results clearly indicate that Mayor Mendenhall has won reelection,” Anderson said. “I wish her the very best and I hope she and her team succeeds.”

Mendenhall’s campaign said Anderson called the mayor Wednesday afternoon to concede.

Though the position of mayor is officially nonpartisan, the city is largely Democratic in a mostly Republican state.

At her election night party Tuesday, Mendenhall told her supporters she would “regroup for a second term” with new energy and urgency.

“This election ends with voters saying loudly and clearly that they want Salt Lake City to keep moving forward together,” Mendenhall said. “Salt Lakers are not afraid of our incredible future. We’re excited by it. This election was a repudiation of cynicism, and it was a rejection of the politics of fear.”

An Oct. 24 debate that included three of the mayoral candidates touched on several of the main issues: conserving water, fighting climate change, reducing crime and addressing homelessness.

Anderson, who served two terms from 2000-2008, had criticized Mendenhall for not doing enough to ease the rising cost of housing. He proposed mixed income housing built by the city to help solve the problem rather than Mendenhall’s approach, which involves working more closely with developers.

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This was the first Salt Lake City mayor’s race since the capital, along with a number of Utah cities, instituted ranked-choice voting in 2021. The system allows voters to rank the three candidates, regardless of party.

If no candidate claims a majority, the candidate who finishes third is eliminated, and voters’ second- and third-choice picks determine the winner.

A comment Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., made Tuesday about how American voters feel about Vice President Kamala Harris sparked online backlash from the White House and Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Kennedy made it clear he wasn’t speaking for himself during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Story” with Martha MacCallum, citing recent polling that continues to show high disapproval ratings for Harris and President Biden.

“I’m not saying that this is accurate, but I can read a poll, and the American people have concluded that President Biden is old, and he needs soup and an early bedtime,” the senator said.

“They have concluded that Vice President Harris is not capable — that when her IQ gets to 75, she should sell,” he continued. “Again, I’m not saying that’s fair or accurate, but that’s the conclusion today that the American people have reached. They’re pretty disgusted.”

KAMALA HARRIS REACTS TO ROUGH BIDEN POLLS: ‘WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO EARN OUR RE-ELECT’

The dig at Harris’ intelligence prompted responses on X, formerly Twitter, from White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates and Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison.

“Shameful and undignified comments like these from [Kennedy] start a fire sale on one’s credibility,” Bates wrote Tuesday evening.

“Bless his heart,” wrote Harrison. “[G]uess Senator Foghorn is a bit upset that our VP has done more for the working families of Louisiana than he has done over the entirety of his unproductive senate career.”

Kennedy’s office declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

During his appearance on Fox Tuesday, the senator argued that the Biden administration “has embraced the neo-socialist, woke wing, loon wing of the Democratic Party. I mean, just look around. The American people might be poorer under President Biden, but they’re not stupid. 

“They see an open border. They experience inflation. They see the rampant crime,” he said. “The American people look around and see the world on fire — the war in Ukraine, the war in the Middle East, the embers smoldering in China — and they have concluded that, fair or unfair.”

ABC NEWS ASKS KAMALA HARRIS HOW MUCH ‘RACE AND GENDER’ CONTRIBUTE TO HER DISMAL POLLING

During an interview with CNN on Sunday, Harris reacted to a number of polls showing former President Donald Trump was ahead of President Biden in hypothetical election match-ups, as well as in battleground states.

“We’re going to have to earn our re-elect, there’s no doubt about it,” she said.

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“It is absolutely right in a democracy with free and fair elections that the candidates, the people who want to continue in leadership have to make their case, and have to make it effectively,” she continued. “And that means communicating in such a way that the message is received about the accomplishments and what we care about.”

According to the RealClearPolitics national average of polls, Harris has a 54.6% unfavorable rating, compared to 36.5% favorable, while Biden has a 55.5% unfavorable rating, compared to 40.6% favorable.

Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

The head of Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ super PAC has resigned amid internal turmoil within the organization over its strategy moving forward into 2024.

Chris Jankowski, a veteran operative in Republican politics, submitted his resignation letter, effective immediately, to the board of Never Back Down on Wednesday.

“Never Back Down’s main goal and sole focus has been to elect Governor Ron DeSantis as President. Given the current environment, it has become untenable for me to deliver on the shared goal and that goes well beyond a difference of strategic opinion. For the future of our country, I support and pray Ron DeSantis is our 47th president,” Jankowski said in a statement shared by Never Back Down.

DESANTIS LANDS ENDORSEMENT FROM INFLUENTIAL IOWA EVANGELICAL LEADER IN RACE FOR GOP NOMINATION

The group has played a significant role in DeSantis’ bid for the presidency since he launched his campaign in May, including raising nine figures to serve as an attack dog and media juggernaut for the governor.

However, the operation has failed to help DeSantis break through the crowded Republican presidential field and be seen as the main challenger to former President Donald Trump’s grip on the GOP. Polls have shown DeSantis consistently in a statistical tie for second place with some of his opponents, fluctuating between former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

According to one recent NBC News report, frustration had been building in the ranks of Never Back Down, which culminated in a heated meeting last week that nearly broke out into a fist fight.

CHRIS CHRISTIE TURNS UP THE HEAT ON HALEY AND DESANTIS AS HE TRIES TO BE THE TRUMP ALTERNATIVE IN GOP 2024 RACE

The report said that Never Back Down’s top consultant, Axiom Strategies CEO Jeff Roe, and longtime DeSantis associate Scott Wagner clashed during the board meeting that resulted in them having to be restrained.

Despite the turmoil, DeSantis’ campaign did see a bright spot on Tuesday when it won the endorsement of influential Iowa Christian leader Bob Vander Plaats.

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Fox has reached out to Never Back Down and the DeSantis campaign for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

• Charleston, South Carolina elected William Cogswell as its next mayor in Tuesday’s runoff.
• Cogswell, a Republican, unseated incumbent Democratic Mayor John Tecklenburg by a margin of about two percent.
• Cogswell is the first Republican elected to the post since George Cunningham, who left office in 1877.

The historic South Carolina city of Charleston has elected its first Republican mayor since the Reconstruction Era.

William Cogswell, formerly a Republican state lawmaker, defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor John Tecklenburg by about 2 percentage points in Tuesday’s runoff, according to the South Carolina Election Commission. Results posted online by the commission showed a 569-vote margin separating the two candidates.

Cogswell, 48, had secured the most votes in the Nov. 7 general election but not a majority, meaning that he and Tecklenburg headed to Tuesday’s runoff.

PRO-TRUMP CANDIDATE BEATS MODERATE DEM IN UTAH SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL LAST SEAT IN US HOUSE

Charleston’s municipal elections are technically nonpartisan. But Tecklenburg is a well-known figure in the state’s Democratic politics, endorsing Joe Biden in South Carolina’s pivotal 2020 presidential primary.

Cogswell, who served three terms as a Republican in the state House and describes himself as a moderate, earned endorsements from others within South Carolina’s GOP political circles, including Sen. Tim Scott.

Charleston last elected a Republican mayor in the 1870s, according to historical records from the city and other municipal areas. Republicans including state GOP Chairman Drew McKissick and U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, who served in the state House with Cogswell, celebrated the GOP win in social media posts and statements.

NORTH CAROLINA MAYORAL RACE DECIDED BY COIN TOSS

“We can confidently say that I’m going to be the next mayor,” Cogswell said Tuesday night, as final results came in. “The people have spoken, and we’re ready for a new direction … a new direction that puts labels aside, so that we can find pragmatic solutions to our problems.”

In a concession speech Tuesday night, Teckleburg called his eight years as mayor “the honor of my life” and asked his supporters to rally around the new mayor.

“I’d like to congratulate our new Mayor-Elect William Cogswell … and I’d like to ask each and every Charlestonian, everybody out there, to give him your support,” Tecklenburg said. “When Mayor Cogswell succeeds, Charleston succeeds, and that’s something we’re all in favor of.”

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The City of Charleston has become the second reliably blue area in South Carolina — where Republicans dominate congressional and statewide politics — to choose a Republican mayor in recent years. In 2021, Daniel Rickenmann, a longtime city council member backed by Republicans, was chosen as the mayor of South Carolina’s capital city of Columbia.

A Utah Republican seeking to replace retiring GOP Sen. Mitt Romney in the U.S. Senate has been deemed “one hundred percent a liar” by one state lawmaker following his claim that his campaign received endorsements from several elected officials in the state.

Earlier this year, then-Utah state House Speaker Brad Wilson, who announced his campaign for the Senate in September, released a list of more than 60 lawmakers who his campaign said endorsed Wilson in the race. Wilson’s campaign also said last week that it has received endorsements from more than 50 mayors throughout the state.

However, at least a few of those endorsements were not actually given to Wilson’s campaign, according to four officials whose names appeared on the lists and spoke to Fox News Digital about the situation.

Speaking anonymously about the alleged endorsement of Wilson’s campaign, one lawmaker whose name was on the list said he never endorsed the Republican in his race for the Senate. Other officials confirmed to Fox Digital that their names were listed even though they didn’t endorse Wilson’s bid.

UTAH HOUSE SPEAKER JUMPS IN SENATE RACE TO REPLACE ROMNEY: ‘OUR COUNTRY IS NOT ON THE RIGHT PATH’

The lawmaker – who requested to remain anonymous out of concern for retaliation from Wilson – said the fiasco with the campaign began this year when Wilson, whose tenure as House speaker concluded last week, called House members and pressured them to donate to him after he launched an exploratory committee to consider running for the seat.

“I think it’s completely inappropriate to call around and ask for donations from members. So, I was put in a position out of the gate where it’s like I say no to our current speaker of the House who still holds and wields all the power,” the lawmaker said. “It’s completely unacceptable and inappropriate.”

The lawmaker, despite being reluctant to make contributions so early in the race, ultimately donated to Wilson’s campaign and “thought that’d be the end of it.”

“Then this letter comes down … saying that I was on a list of legislators that had endorsed him. I’m like, ‘Whoa, I didn’t endorse Brad. I gave him money because he asked for it … he’s speaker of the House,'” the lawmaker told Fox. “I called other legislators, and they said the same thing. They felt like they were put in a tough position where they felt like they had to donate to him.”

Describing it as a “he knows what he’s doing type of situation,” the lawmaker also told Fox that some state House members who didn’t financially support Wilson ended up losing their committee assignments.

Another House member, the lawmaker said, is supporting Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs in the Senate race and ended up in an awkward situation after the representative made a small donation to Wilson and later appeared on the list, which was released in August, prior to Wilson’s campaign announcement.

“It just put everyone in a really tough position, and I don’t think it’s right,” the lawmaker said. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen as we move forward here because he still technically holds a lot of power.”

MORE THAN 60 UTAH REPUBLICANS ENDORSE PRIMARY CHALLENGER TO MITT ROMNEY

“To have him be speaker and do that is just unacceptable. I mean, I’m not aware of someone who says they’re going to run and calls while they’re still in power and is gathering up all these bits of, you know, donations and endorsements,” the lawmaker added. “Let’s be real. Brad doesn’t need the money. He is self-funding most of it anyways, and he has tons of it.”

The alleged endorsements for Wilson’s campaign, according to the lawmaker, were “an attempt” by the campaign to show strength early on in the campaign process by listing some House members’ names on the list solely because they gave him a donation he solicited.

“In reality, they weren’t endorsements. They were just people who were scared,” the lawmaker said. “I’ve seen the same thing with the mayoral races or mayors around the state. They’re also saying, ‘I didn’t endorse him, but he put my name on a list.'”

The lawmaker said the false endorsements that ended up on the list are representative of how Wilson has “run things as speaker of the House,” saying that “you don’t cross him” without some type of retaliation.

“One hundred percent a liar,” the lawmaker added of Wilson.

In addition to the state lawmaker, three other elected officials in the state confirmed to Fox News Digital that they did not endorse Wilson’s campaign and were seemingly shocked to see their names on the lists.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Wilson’s campaign said, “It’s sad our opponents are spending Thanksgiving agonizing over Brad’s endorsement list, but the fact is Brad Wilson has over one hundred Republican endorsements from every corner of Utah, many times more than all the other candidates in the race combined.”

Asked whether it was appropriate for Wilson to solicit donations during his speakership, Wilson’s campaign responded, “Brad has consistently smashed fundraising records in this race because, like any strong campaign, he’s been asking his friends and allies to chip in to support his campaign.”

In September, following Romney’s announcement that he would not be seeking reelection to the upper chamber in 2024, Wilson told Fox News Digital that a “number of factors” played into his decision to enter the Senate race.

“One is just the overwhelming support we’ve had from everyone in the state — from elected officials to grassroots support. Just a lot of people encouraging us to run, whether it’s been support in terms of wanting to go out and knock on doors or get supporters on board [with] financial support. I mean, that’s been overwhelming,” he said.

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“At the end of the day, our country is not on the right path, and we all know it. People feel like Utah is on the right path, and I feel like I’ve got a lot and a tremendous amount to offer in terms of being able to go back to Washington, D.C., as a conservative, as a conservative fighter, and representing Utah’s values back in the U.S. Senate,” Wilson, a businessman and graduate of Weber State University who has represented Utah’s 15th District in the State House since January 2011, added at the time.

DERRY, New Hampshire – As he aims to be the last challenger standing against former President Donald Trump in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Chris Christie’s turning up the volume on two other rivals.

Christie’s amplifying criticism of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is for not vigorously targeting Trump, who remains the faraway front-runner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White House run.

“Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have not made the case against him. They refuse to make the case against him. They’re scared to make the case against him,” Christie charged in a Fox News Digital interview on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.

And Christie, a very vocal Republican critic of Trump, touted that “the one thing people say about me is I’m not.”

POPULAR GOP GOVERNOR IN A CRUCIAL PRIMARY STATE TEAMS UP WITH CHRISTIE, HALEY AND DESANTIS

DeSantis and Haley are currently battling for second place in the latest national surveys in the 2024 Republican race and in the most recent surveys in Iowa, whose caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar. 

As Christie runs a second time for the White House, he’s once again concentrating most of his time and resources on New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in the Republican schedule and votes second after Iowa. Christie is currently in third place in New Hampshire polls, far behind Trump and slightly trailing Haley.

Christie placed all his chips in his campaign for president eight years ago in the Granite State. However, his campaign crashed and burned after a disappointing and distant sixth-place finish in New Hampshire, far behind Trump, who crushed the competition in the primary, boosting him toward the nomination and eventually the White House. 

CHRISTIE VOWS TO ‘CONFRONT’ TRUMP IF FORMER PRESIDENT DOESN’T DEBATE

Christie became the first among the other GOP 2016 contenders to endorse Trump and for years was a top outside adviser to the then-president and chaired Trump’s high-profile commission on opioids. However, the two had a falling out after Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Biden. In the past three years, Christie has become one of the harshest Trump critics in the Republican Party.

Christie, who for months has pledged to seek out and confront Trump on the campaign trail, said “I think the one person Donald Trump doesn’t want to have a one-on-one with is me.”

“He’s not afraid of Nikki Haley,” Christie argued. “And he certainly made his feelings about Ron DeSantis known. He doesn’t look like he’s very intimidated by him. But the fact is, you don’t hear him saying that stuff about me. He doesn’t want to be on that stage with me.”

DESANTIS LANDS THE ENDORSEMENT OF A TOP EVANGELICAL LEADER IN IOWA 

Christie teamed up Monday night at a town hall in Nashua, New Hampshire, with Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who also joined Haley and DeSantis on the campaign trail in the Granite State this week. 

Sununu, a popular governor who’s also an outspoken Trump critic, has said he’ll make an endorsement in the GOP nomination race sometime after Thanksgiving, and that it’s down to Haley, DeSantis or Christie.

Asked about the case he’s making to Sununu, Christie told Fox News: “who does he want standing across from Donald Trump when this gets down to a one-on-one? Who does he think can take him on in a direct way? Who’s been saying the same things as Chris Sununu has been saying for the last couple of years about Donald Trump, trying to move the party in a new direction? And I think I’m the person who has the clearest, strongest voice on that.”

Christie said that he needs to do “well” in New Hampshire’s primary to be successful in his long-shot bid for the 2024 nomination. Asked to define what “well” means, Christie answered, “No. I can’t define it. I’ll know it when I see it and we’ll see what it looks like.”

“If I don’t think I’ve done well enough, I’d get out,” Christie emphasized. “I’m not somebody who’s going to linger here. This is hard work, and you’ve got to get up out of bed every morning and feel like you have a chance to win. And if that moment comes where I don’t feel like I have a chance to win, I’m not going to elongate a campaign just for the sake of doing it.”

But he added: “I’m convinced that I’m going to do very well here. And I’m going to be the last one standing against Donald Trump and I’m going to take this right to the convention because he’s going to be convicted of federal crimes of interference of our election process this spring.”

CHRISTIE JEERED AS HE TELLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS THEY ‘FEAR THE TRUTH’ AT FLORIDA REPUBLICAN GATHERING

Trump has made history as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments – including in federal court in Washington, D.C. and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss – have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

Christie’s a longtime friend of Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, dating back to their days as fellow governors. Manchin, a moderate Democrat in a heavily red state, announced earlier this month that he wouldn’t seek re-election to the Senate next year and instead is mulling a potential third-party run for the White House.

“Joe and I had dinner together about ten days ago in D.C. It was great to see him,” Christie shared. “We had a great dinner together on his boat in the Potomac. He’s been a great friend for 14 years now, and I suspect that whatever happens in the upcoming year, we’re going to continue to be great friends.”

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But Christie ruled out teaming up with Manchin in any possible third-party presidential bid.

“I’m committed to winning the Republican nomination for president. I have no interest in being a third-party candidate,” Christie told Fox News. “Joe can do whatever it is he wants to do. Everyone’s got to make their own decision. My decision is the only interest I have is being the Republican nominee for president because I think that’s the best chance I have to win.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

The influential evangelical leader of a top social conservative organization in Iowa endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday.

Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader organization, announced his endorsement of DeSantis in an interview with Bret Baier at 6 p.m. on Fox News’ “Special Report.”

“We need to find somebody who can win in 2024,” Vander Plaats said, pointing to the 2022 midterms, where an anticipated “red wave” never materialized for most of the country. DeSantis, however, won re-election in Florida by a wide margin.

GAME ON IN IOWA AS DESANTIS AND HALEY BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE BEHIND TRUMP

Vander Plaats’ endorsement did not come as much of a surprise. 

“We’re hopeful that we’re able to secure that endorsement,” DeSantis told reporters Tuesday during the first of two campaign stops in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP nominating schedule, after Iowa’s lead-off caucuses.

The Florida governor, along with 2024 GOP White House rivals, former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, appeared with Vander Plaats on Friday at a Family Leader presidential forum in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I think that if you saw that Family Leader forum, clearly his folks there gravitated to me. I don’t think there’s any question about that. We have a good relationship,” DeSantis said.

Former President Donald Trump, the commanding frontrunner for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, was invited but declined to attend the forum. Trump also skipped a similar presidential forum hosted by the Family Leader in July.

DESANTIS, HALEY, RAMASWAMY, GET PERSONAL AS THEY SIT SIDE-BY-SIDE

Vander Plaats, who has long had a rocky relationship with Trump and who has argued that it is time for new conservative leadership, said the former president’s “absence communicates a lot to our base.”

“There’s definitely a shot that the former president can be beat here,” Vander Plaats told Fox News Digital in an interview last week.

Pointing to Vander Plaats, DeSantis on Tuesday noted, “Bob has been somebody that’s been very vocal that Donald Trump is not going to be the way forward, not going to be able to get the job done, particularly as a lame duck president.”

In a major boost for DeSantis – who has staked his campaign on winning in Iowa — the Florida governor landed the endorsement earlier this month of Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is very popular among Hawkeye State Republicans. Reynolds’ backing helped DeSantis alter a negative narrative.

COULD THIS IOWA EVANGELICAL LEADER’S ENDORSEMENT PUT  DENT IN TRUMP’S COMMANDING LEAD?

Vander Plaats, who has repeatedly showered praise on DeSantis this year, told Fox News last week that the Reynolds endorsement of the Florida governor “will weigh in on my discernment. But that won’t make my endorsement.” 

DeSantis, pointing to the backing from Iowa’s governor, numerous state lawmakers and officials, and the probability of a Vander Plaats endorsement, highlighted that “to have so many members of the Iowa legislature, to have the governor, and then to have Bob and his network. That’s going to be a pretty powerful machine and we’re going to turn all that on. Or they’ll turn that on. And we’re going to go there and do that.”

DeSantis predicted “that these first two states are going to totally upend the conventional wisdom.” 

Taking a shot at some of his rivals, DeSantis argued that Republican primary voters “certainly don’t want to fall in line behind an establishment candidate who’s not going to be able to make any big changes. And I think that’s true for most of the people who are running against us in the primary.”

Vander Plaats is a top social conservative leader in a state where evangelical voters play an outsized role in Republican politics. Vander Plaats backed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in 2012, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in 2016 – all three of whom went on to win the Iowa caucuses, but failed to capture the GOP presidential nomination.

Ahead of Friday’s forum, Trump’s political allies have dismissed the importance of a Vander Plaats endorsement.

A recent memo from veteran Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who among other things conducts surveys for the Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., argued that a Vander Plaats endorsement would have “no significant impact” on the caucuses.

Pointing to polling he conducted in September, Fabrizio charged that “while the DeSantis camp will try and spin that a Vander Plaats endorsement will revive their sputtering and shrinking campaign, cold hard data tells a much different story.” 

WITH CLOCK TICKING TOWARDS FIRST VOTES IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE, THIS CANDIDATE REMAINS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

When asked about the criticism, Vander Plaats told Fox News that “my endorsement means one vote. Beyond that, we’ll see what happens.”

However, he added, “I think their obsession with my endorsement probably would indicate that they’re more fearful of it than they should be.”

The Democratic National Committee described Vander Plaats as a “far-right extremist” and argued that his endorsement “is the ultimate kiss of death for Ron DeSantis’ sinking campaign and guarantees DeSantis will never be the Republican nominee.”

“Vander Plaats’ endorsement should come as no surprise – both he and DeSantis share the same desire to ban abortion and rip away freedoms from millions of women,” DNC national press secretary Sarafina Chitika charged in a statement.

A couple of hours before Friday’s Family Leader presidential forum in Des Moines, Haley landed a surprise endorsement from another social conservative leader in Iowa.

As Haley was taking questions from the audience at a town hall in Newton, Iowa, Marlys Popma, the former Iowa GOP executive director and former president of the Iowa Right to Life, stood to speak.

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“I was an undecided voter when I walked in here today, and I am no longer an undecided voter,” Popma said, as many in the crowd applauded. “I just want to tell Nikki that I wholeheartedly support you.”

The big question going forward is whether the Reynolds and Vander Plaats endorsements of DeSantis, and the surprise backing of Haley by Popma, can make a dent in Trump’s commanding lead over the rest of the field.

Nicole Schlinger, a longtime Iowa-based strategist with close ties to evangelicals, argued that endorsements only go so far.

“I think what matters more to Iowa caucus goers than anything is meeting with the candidates and getting their questions answered about their policy positions,” she told Fox News. “Endorsements, whether it’s the governor or Bob Vander Plaats, can shine a light on the campaign, and then it’s up to the candidate to seal the deal.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Voters in Utah are heading to the polls Tuesday for a special election to determine which party will fill the last remaining open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The election, to be held in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District, was triggered by the resignation of former Republican Rep. Chris Stewart, who left Congress in September due to his wife’s unspecified illness.

Republican Celeste Maloy, who served as Stewart’s chief legal counsel in Congress, won a three-way primary election that month, and is facing off against Democrat state Sen. Kathleen Riebe, a self-described moderate.

BIDEN USES TRUMP’S OWN WORDS AGAINST HIM IN BID TO RECAPTURE THIS MAJOR VOTING BLOCK FOR DEMS IN 2024

As a candidate, Maloy has touted her roots growing up in rural southern Utah, of which the district covers a vast portion, and has leaned into her support of former President Donald Trump, arguing the numerous ongoing prosecutions against him are politically motivated.

“It’s exciting that we’re going to have somebody come out of this primary that represents rural and southern Utah. I think it’s time for that, and everybody’s ready for it,” Maloy said following her primary win.

However, Riebe has argued the race is a pickup opportunity for Democrats, and has leaned on her experience as a school teacher while making the case that people in the district “are ready for a change.”

TRUMP TO REMAIN ON COLORADO BALLOT AFTER JUDGE REJECTS 14TH AMENDMENT CHALLENGE TO ELIGIBILITY

In an interview with Deseret News in August, Riebe expressed concern over the nation’s rising debt, and vowed to join the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition if elected.

“Coming to a very rational decision and having very moderate ideas, I think that is what serves us best,” she told the outlet.

Maloy is currently the heavy favorite to win the special election given Stewart’s double-digit margin of victory in the six elections he was the Republican nominee for the district, going back to 2012.

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A Democrat win would weaken Republicans’ already slim majority, while a win for the GOP would provide some extra cushion for close votes.

Polls close at 8:00 p.m. local time, and 10:00 p.m. ET.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have issued a subpoena for a top Justice Department prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden who allegedly tried to shield President Biden from certain questions, inquiries and search warrants related to the investigation, Fox News Digital has learned.

According to the subpoena, which Fox News Digital reviewed Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf has been ordered to appear before the committee on Dec. 7 at 10:00 a.m. ET at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

Wolf first began facing scrutiny earlier this year amid allegations from FBI whistleblower testimony that she limited questions and inquiries about the president and blocked search warrants because she was worried about “optics” during the years-long probe.

WATCH: WHITE HOUSE ISSUES STERN DEFENSE OF BIDEN’S ‘STAMINA’ ON 81ST BIRTHDAY AMID GROWING AGE CONCERNS

One whistleblower, Gary Shapley Jr., who was the supervisor of the investigation at the IRS, said that “at every stage” of the Hunter Biden probe, decisions were made that “had the effect of benefiting” the president’s son.

Shapley made a number of damning allegations that cast doubt over the legitimacy of the years-long investigation, and lobbed critical accusations at Wolf.

According to Shapley, Wolf worked to “limit” questioning related to President Biden and apparent references to Biden as “dad” or “the big guy.”

TRUMP MEDICAL REPORT RELEASED AS BIDEN FACES CONCERNS OVER AGE, HEALTH

Wolf allegedly said there was “no specific criminality to that line of questioning” relating to President Biden, which Shapley said “upset the FBI.”

In October 2020, Wolf reviewed an affidavit for a search warrant of Hunter Biden’s residence, and “agreed that probable cause had been achieved,” Shapley testified. However, Shapley said Wolf ultimately would not allow a physical search warrant on the president’s son.

Shapley said Wolf determined there was “enough probable cause for the physical search warrant there, but the question was whether the juice was worth the squeeze.”

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Wolf allegedly said that “optics were a driving factor in the decision on whether to execute a search warrant,” Shapley said, adding that Wolf agreed that “a lot of evidence in our investigation would be found in the guest house of former Vice President Biden, but said there is no way we will get that approved.”

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Wolf also allegedly tipped off Hunter Biden’s legal team ahead of a planned search of his storage unit.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ for comment.