After leaving her seat in the House of Representatives under tax fraud allegations, California Congresswoman Samantha Clemons moves to Des Moines, Iowa to avoid further scrutiny. Her arrival arouses attention from the Des Moines citizens, as "all politics are local and everything local is affected by politics". After some deep reflection and with a renewed devotion to serve her country, Samantha decides to run for the highest office in the Land, not unlike one-term congressman Abraham Lincoln. Sam hires a young and equally politically passionate Des Moines local, Kelli Brown, to run her Iowa campaign, and together the two women run as the dark horses in a highly competitive and challenging race. Interspersed with Samantha's story include poignant interviews and appearances from real politicians: Senators Bernie Sanders, Tom Harkin, Lindsey Graham, and Paul Struass, and Governor Martin O'Malley, to name a few. In this sequel to the online series CHASING THE HILL, COURTING DES MOINES tells the story of the race for the presidency of the United States of America right where it starts - in Iowa, "first in the nation" of the presidential primaries.