===bob vander plaats===
Robert Lee Vander Plaats (born April 12, 1963) is an American politician and political activist. Since 2010, he has been the president and CEO of The Family Leader, a socially conservative organization in Iowa.
Iowa, national conservative leaders talk abortion, school choice at Family Leader event
In a panel led by Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats, Reynolds and former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos praised one another for their work in education and expanding the availability and public funding for K-12 private and charter schools as alternatives to public school systems. Much of the conversation centered on Iowa’s ESA program, providing public funding for private school tuition and associated fees. The program provides scholarships that match per-pupil funding at Iowa’s K-12 public schools — for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, an fund of $7,826 per participating student. The law is on a three-year timeline for implementation, being available to all kindergarteners, Iowa public school students and private school students with a family income of 300% or below the federal poverty line in the first year of implementation — the 2023-2024 school year. In the upcoming year, the family income eligibility limit will grow to 400% of the FPL, and in the 2025-26 school year on there will be no income limit. Reynolds said that while she has been an advocate for “school choice” for many years, she believed the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on schools has changed many people’s minds about the correct path forward for education policy.
(Iowa Capitol Dispatch 7/12/24) READ MORE>>>>>
In a panel led by Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats, Reynolds and former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos praised one another for their work in education and expanding the availability and public funding for K-12 private and charter schools as alternatives to public school systems. Much of the conversation centered on Iowa’s ESA program, providing public funding for private school tuition and associated fees. The program provides scholarships that match per-pupil funding at Iowa’s K-12 public schools — for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, an fund of $7,826 per participating student. The law is on a three-year timeline for implementation, being available to all kindergarteners, Iowa public school students and private school students with a family income of 300% or below the federal poverty line in the first year of implementation — the 2023-2024 school year. In the upcoming year, the family income eligibility limit will grow to 400% of the FPL, and in the 2025-26 school year on there will be no income limit. Reynolds said that while she has been an advocate for “school choice” for many years, she believed the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on schools has changed many people’s minds about the correct path forward for education policy.
(Iowa Capitol Dispatch 7/12/24) READ MORE>>>>>
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Iowa 'kingmaker' on the GOP race and white evangelical vote
The Iowa caucuses are now just three days away, which means the candidates are making their final pitches to a coveted group of voters: white evangelicals. Bob Vander Plaats is perhaps Iowa’s most recognizable and influential evangelical leader and is often called a kingmaker in Iowa politics. Lisa Desjardins sat down with him in Des Moines to discuss the GOP race (PBS News Hour 1/12/24) |
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DeSantis hits Trump for ‘out of bounds’ comments on his endorsements
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) denounced former President Trump’s attacks on top figures that endorsed the governor’s presidential run, calling his condemnation “out of bounds.” DeSantis, in an interview Monday evening with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, said people should have the right to have a preference in the primary without being attacked for making an endorsement, referencing Trump’s criticism of top Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R).
(MSN 12/25/23) READ MORE>>>>>
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) denounced former President Trump’s attacks on top figures that endorsed the governor’s presidential run, calling his condemnation “out of bounds.” DeSantis, in an interview Monday evening with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, said people should have the right to have a preference in the primary without being attacked for making an endorsement, referencing Trump’s criticism of top Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R).
(MSN 12/25/23) READ MORE>>>>>
Top evangelical leader says he doesn’t believe poll showing strong Trump support in Iowa
Bob Vander Plaats, an influential Iowa evangelical leader, said he doesn’t believe recent polling that shows evangelical voters still support former President Trump. “I don’t believe them, and there’s a reason I don’t believe them – because it does not match up at all to what I’m hearing on the ground,” Vander Plaats told The Washington Post on Thursday. (Lauren Irwin/Yahoo 12/15/23)
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Bob Vander Plaats, an influential Iowa evangelical leader, said he doesn’t believe recent polling that shows evangelical voters still support former President Trump. “I don’t believe them, and there’s a reason I don’t believe them – because it does not match up at all to what I’m hearing on the ground,” Vander Plaats told The Washington Post on Thursday. (Lauren Irwin/Yahoo 12/15/23)
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Top GOP candidates converge in Iowa for evangelical Christian forum that Trump skipped
Trump also did not participate in the Thanksgiving forum in 2015 during his first presidential run, and he avoided another Family Leader event hosted earlier this year. The group’s CEO and president, Bob Vander Plaats, has been urging Republicans to move on from the former president.The candidates were encouraged to keep it civil at the forum, with Vander Plaats telling the audience that the candidates were asked not to attack one another, could compliment “one another if it’s genuine, and we took all the sharp objects off the table.” However, Trump’s absence posed an opportunity for his rivals to take shots at him.
(Alayna Treene, Veronica Stracqualursi, Kit Maher/CNN 11/17/23)
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Trump also did not participate in the Thanksgiving forum in 2015 during his first presidential run, and he avoided another Family Leader event hosted earlier this year. The group’s CEO and president, Bob Vander Plaats, has been urging Republicans to move on from the former president.The candidates were encouraged to keep it civil at the forum, with Vander Plaats telling the audience that the candidates were asked not to attack one another, could compliment “one another if it’s genuine, and we took all the sharp objects off the table.” However, Trump’s absence posed an opportunity for his rivals to take shots at him.
(Alayna Treene, Veronica Stracqualursi, Kit Maher/CNN 11/17/23)
Read More>>>>>
| Aug 16, 2023 #breakingnews #politicalnews #christiannews Despite former President Donald Trump's growing legal issues, he still holds a formidable lead in the GOP primaries. While current polls indicate it might not be possible for any candidate to beat him, one evangelical leader tells CBN News that's not what he's hearing from evangelical voters in Iowa, the nation's first Republican caucus state. "I think Iowa is going to be wide open, I do think it's very open to defeat Donald Trump," Bob Vander Plaats from The Family Leader in Iowa told CBN News. Conservative evangelicals played a key role in sending Trump to the White House in 2016. While he delivered on many policy promises, voters in Iowa tell CBN News his demeanor this time around remains a challenge for the values-based voting block. That leaves 2024 GOP candidates hopeful there's an opportunity to chip away at the front-runner's evangelical support |
"I think Iowa is going to be wide open, I do think it's very open to defeat Donald Trump," Bob Vander Plaats from The Family Leader in Iowa told CBN News.
July 13, 2023: Politico: DeSantis is hoping Iowa evangelicals can make his campaign born again
“I really think America wants to turn the page,” Bob Vander Plaats, CEO of The Family Leader, said in an interview. “If you’re looking for an alternative to Trump, I think Gov. DeSantis is the frontrunner right now.”
“I really think America wants to turn the page,” Bob Vander Plaats, CEO of The Family Leader, said in an interview. “If you’re looking for an alternative to Trump, I think Gov. DeSantis is the frontrunner right now.”
 Zorek Richards
May 17, 2023:
Days following the former president's 2024 campaign announcement, Tessa Stuart and Asawin Suebsaeng, in a report for Rolling Stone, noted "evangelicals haven't been lining up behind Trump the way he hoped and want to hear what other 2024 candidates have to say." Stuart and Suebsaeng wrote, "Evangelical leaders who once counseled Trump are openly bad-mouthing him or publicly declaring they can’t, in good conscience, cast a ballot for him again."Bob Vander Plaats, who oversees the popular Iowa-based Christian conservative group, The Family Leader, is an example of one of those evangelicals. Per Rolling Stone, the conservative faith leader pointed to two specific reasons for turning on the former president: Trump's "exhausting quest for 'vengeance'" over his failure to beat President Joe Biden in 2020, and his "recent efforts to soften his politics on abortion."During the News Nation interview, Vander Plaats emphasized, "If we're gonna have a conversation about what happened in the past — or vengeance about what happened in the past — versus about a compelling vision for the future, we're gonna get beat in 2024," adding, "I think Americans are exhausted by it." |
May 15, 2023
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April 20, 2023: Reuters: Trump keeps edge among evangelicals, but there is an opening for challengers
Bob Vander Plaats, a longtime evangelical leader in Iowa, said he doesn’t yet see any “galvanizing” around Trump and believes the evangelical base is “exceptionally wide open” to hearing from all the candidates.
Bob Vander Plaats, a longtime evangelical leader in Iowa, said he doesn’t yet see any “galvanizing” around Trump and believes the evangelical base is “exceptionally wide open” to hearing from all the candidates.
Dec 19, 2022: Christian Post: Christian leader calls for 'fresh candidate' to lead Republican ticket in 2024
With the Iowa caucuses that historically kick off a string of presidential primaries in all 50 states slightly more than a year away, The Christian Post spoke with Bob Vander Plaats of the Iowa-based Family Leader, a socially conservative organization established to “strengthen families by inspiring Christ-like leadership in the home, the church and the government.”
With the Iowa caucuses that historically kick off a string of presidential primaries in all 50 states slightly more than a year away, The Christian Post spoke with Bob Vander Plaats of the Iowa-based Family Leader, a socially conservative organization established to “strengthen families by inspiring Christ-like leadership in the home, the church and the government.”