CNN —
The 2024 Republican presidential race played out in close quarters Saturday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, as former President Donald Trump and his top-polling rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, joined the crowd of thousands of potential caucus goers.
The Iowa State Fair in Des Moines has been a quintessential stop on the presidential campaign trail since the Democratic Party moved the state to the first position in its nominating calendar in 1972 and Republicans made the same shift four years later.
Trump and DeSantis both skipped one state fair mainstay – making their pitches to crowds gathered around The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox. But
