Republican Candidates Court Homeschooling Families In Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Eight years after Mike Huckabee tapped the support of evangelical home-schooling families as part of his winning coalition in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, a lineup of GOP hopefuls is seeking to duplicate that effort.

Five Republican prospects courted homeschool families in Des Moines on Thursday at an annual gathering sponsored by the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators. While the number of homeschoolers in the state may be small, they are viewed as a well-organized subset of the evangelical population.

In attendance at an afternoon panel discussion were Huckabee as well as former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry came to a portion of the program at the state Capitol earlier in the day.