Pa.’s Santorum to visit Iowa State Fair, advocate for constitutional convention

By Robin Opsahl

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum will be at the Iowa State Fair  Thursday with the Convention of States Action group.

The Pennsylvania Republican visited Iowa earlier this year with the same group, rallying at the Iowa State Capitol for the state to join calls to convene a constitutional convention to amend the U.S. Constitution. So far, 19 states have passed a resolution to convene, according to the Convention of States website. The constitution requires 34 states to pass resolutions in order to call a convention.

If 34 states pass the resolution, the convention would be asked to consider constitutional amendments focused on three priorities: term limits, spending restraints, and limits to the federal government’s power. A constitutional convention would have the power to consider other issues as well.

The resolution passed in the Iowa House during multiple sessions, but has never passed in the Iowa Senate.

Santorum is visiting Des Moines again to advocate for the state Legislature to pass the resolution. He will speak with visitors at the Convention of States’ booth in the Varied Industries Building, according to a news release, and will tour the fair.

He has not spoken about any 2024 presidential ambitions yet, but Santorum is familiar with the Iowa caucuses. He won the caucuses in 2012, though he ultimately lost the nomination to U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney. Santorum ran again in 2016, but did not win a single delegate in Iowa, and dropped out shortly after the caucuses.

Robin Opsahl is a reporter for the Iowa Capital Dispatch, a sibling site of the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, where this story first appeared.