DeSantis supporters 'crazy and frustrated' at Fast Race Call

The mood at the Ron DeSantis watch party was anger and disbelief — not at Mr. DeSantis' apparent loss to former President Donald J. Trump, but at how early The Associated Press called the race.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, speaking on behalf of the DeSantis campaign at a crowded caucus location in Clive, said he was told the results before he even took the stage to make the case to the governor.

“Are you joking?” an animated Mr. Roy told a gaggle of reporters an hour later at the party, held in the ballroom of a West Des Moines hotel. “They haven't even started voting yet and have heard all the speeches and AP mentions it?”

The AP said its race call, which The New York Times relied on in reporting its own results, was based on “an analysis of early returns and results from AP VoteCast,” its own voter survey system that the outlet said “Trump showed an insurmountable lead.”

Mr. Roy said this could affect how Republicans view the integrity of the election.

“It will certainly raise questions for the people in that room for whom it was called before they could even vote,” Mr Roy said.

Hal Lambert, a campaign donor who flew from Texas to defend Mr. DeSantis, was speaking in support of the candidate at a caucus location when he received a text message informing him that Mr. Trump had been declared the winner of the caucus.

“It's election interference,” he said. “They actually called it before anyone had voted.”

Trina Brousseau, a registered nurse from Colfax, Iowa, who volunteered as precinct chairwoman for Mr. DeSantis, said she was disappointed by the early call.

“I'm angry and frustrated,” she said. “They don't want to give us a voice. They want to have everything under control.”

Iowa allocates its delegates to the Republican National Convention based on the share of the vote each candidate receives, and supporters like Tom Giola, a DeSantis campaign donor who traveled from Atlanta, worried that the call would widen the margin between Mr. DeSantis and Mr. DeSantis could have increased. Trump.

“I can't even imagine the disproportionate impact this could have had,” Mr. Giola said. “It's frustrating. I don't even know how you do that.”

Jake Highfill, a former Republican state lawmaker in Iowa who represented Mr. DeSantis as a precinct captain, said the results came in after votes were cast in his precinct but before they were counted.

“I just think it's way too early to call the race,” Mr. Highfill said, adding, “It's better to be cautious and wait half an hour, an hour.”

Michael M. Grynbaum reporting contributed.