Iowa weather scrambles caucus turnout efforts

JOHNSTON, Iowa — The Iowans who answered their doorbells, held back their barking dogs, and cracked open their storm doors into the horizontal snow were impressed to see that even blizzard conditions couldn’t stop the final push of get-out-the-vote efforts in this Des Moines suburb.

‘‘You guys are dedicated, I’ll give you that,’’ one said.

‘‘You guys are crazy,’’ said another.

‘‘The caucuses happen at 7 p.m. on Monday, whether or not the weather improves,’’ answered a staffer from Americans for Prosperity Action, also called AFP Action, the political group funded by conservative billionaire Charles Koch that’s backing Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary. ‘‘We only have so many days left.’’

The staffers stomped through knee-high snow Friday to cross unshoveled sidewalks and driveways until the ice caked onto their pant legs. They found a firm Haley supporter, a DeSantis voter, and several others who said they were undecided or unlikely to caucus at all in the record cold. As dusk approached, the wind was picking up and visibility was dropping. They passed a bundled-up couple sipping hot beverages on their porch, which was decorated with a Trump yard sign.

‘‘What are you walking around for?’’ the man called out. He advised the canvassers that they should skip the next house: A Trump caucus captain lived there. The woman on the porch added that the voters on the other side were Trump supporters, too.

‘‘I should have just brought you guys along. You’ve got this all sorted out,’’ the AFP Action staffer said.