High stakes for DeSantis in Iowa: "He can't come in second and get beat by 30 points. Nobody can," says Iowa GOP operative

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has staked his presidential candidacy on Iowa, investing nearly all of his time and resources there. His campaign moved a third of its staff to the state, he's toured all of Iowa's 99 counties and has done over 170 events, his campaign says. 

The super PAC supporting him, "Never Back Down," says it has knocked on 770,000 doors in Iowa and collected over 40,000 "commitment to caucus" cards signed by voters. 

In the closing months before the January 15 caucuses, DeSantis earned high-profile endorsements from evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who became the first governor to endorse before the caucuses since 1996.