COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich is heading back to Iowa this weekend as he tries to gain traction for his 2016 presidential campaign in the early primary state.
Kasich, Ohio's two-term governor and former congressman, plans stops in Sioux City and Council Bluffs on Saturday.
While Kasich has landed spots in both primetime Republican debates, neither appearance gave him a huge bounce. He continues to poll toward the bottom of the crowded GOP field.
New Day for America, a super PAC supporting Kasich, began airing new ads this week in New Hampshire emphasizing Kasich's experience balancing the federal budget.
Kasich hopes to gain some more momentum in Iowa after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dropped out of the GOP presidential hunt this week. It will be his third trip there.
Meanwhile, fellow GOP hopeful Rick Santorum will be on Kasich's home turf Monday, addressing the Hamilton County GOP at 5:30 p.m. in the Sharonville Convention Center.
A former Pennsylvania senator, Santorum has had some success going against the mainstream GOP in the past. In 2012, he narrowly won in Iowa after a grassroots campaign that included driving himself around the entire state in a pickup truck.
This time around, Santorum has generally been polling toward the bottom of the packed field of Republican candidates. He finished with less than 1 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.
Dr. Ben Carson, another candidate in the crowded Republican presidential primary, also spoke in Sharonville earlier this week.
His visit to the Tri-State on Tuesday coincided with a CNN poll showing him falling to third in a field of 10 GOP candidates seeking the party's presidential nomination.
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Controversial Donald Trump and former Hewitt-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina held the top two spots in that poll, respectively.
During his speech, Carson promoted a platform of smaller government and paying down the nation's debt.
The candidate added that American needs to address its politically-correct culture.
