After less than two months on the campaign trail, Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has fired roughly a dozen staff members, with more expected in the coming weeks as he restructures his high-dollar political operations.
A source familiar with the situation told NBC News that those who were let go were mid-level employees from multiple departments whose departures were related to cost-cutting. Politico was the first to disclose the departures of David Abrams and Tucker Obenshain, both veterans of DeSantis’ political orbit.
According to sources affiliated with the DeSantis campaign, there is an internal assessment among some that they hired too many staff members too early, and despite bringing in $20 million in the first six weeks, it became apparent that they needed to reduce their expenses.
Some within DeSantis’ political orbit are placing the early blame on campaign manager Generra Peck, who also headed DeSantis’ 2022 midterm reelection campaign and is currently under fire.
“She should be,” said a donor for DeSantis.
“They never should have hired so many people; the attrition rate was far too high,” said a Republican source familiar with the campaign’s mentality. People cautioned the campaign manager, but she disregarded their advice.
The donor added, “DeSantis’s stock is not rising.” “Twenty percent is not what people signed up for.”
The individual noted that DeSantis has a propensity for staff turnover, which means he has no core team that has previously worked together.
DeSantis had three distinct campaign teams for each of his three campaigns for Congress, and his first run for governor in 2018 was marked by a notable campaign shakeup.
“Americans are coalescing behind Ron DeSantis and his plan to reverse Joe Biden’s failures and restore sanity to our nation, and his momentum will only increase as more voters, particularly in Iowa, see him in person.
It will require a nimble and candidate-driven campaign to defeat Joe Biden and his $72 million war chest, and we are constructing a movement to go the distance,” DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo told NBC News.
According to campaign finance reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Saturday, DeSantis’s campaign employed 92 individuals for at least a portion of its first fundraising period.
It is by far the most of any Republican presidential candidate, and it has left his campaign with enormous payroll expenses and fewer resources than anticipated, according to new filings.
DeSantis has $12 million in the treasury, of which $3 million is restricted to the general election. And approximately $14 million of his second-quarter earnings came from donors who gave the maximum amount allowed by law.
In other words, approximately two-thirds of his early donors will be unable to contribute directly to his campaign for the duration of the election.
Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting DeSantis has stated that it will spend up to $200 million to bolster the governor’s White House campaign and has a substantially larger staff than the official campaign.
A moment of potential reset occurs prior to Sunday’s national finance committee meeting for DeSantis’ campaign in Tallahassee, which will bring together the campaign’s brain trust in an effort to chip away at Trump’s massive lead in the GOP primary.
According to an invitation reviewed by NBC News, the affair will include a briefing at the campaign’s Tallahassee headquarters followed by a barbecue at the governor’s mansion.
After nearly two months as an official candidate, DeSantis has been unable to make up ground against Trump. This stagnation is beginning to irritate some supporters, who want a shakeup of the campaign, which is headed on a daily basis by Peck and Ryan Tyson, a veteran Republican pollster in Florida.
Unsourced quote from a DeSantis donor: “Yes, there are people complaining about it.” There is a general consensus, including mine, that he has not ignited as we had anticipated.
The individual believes that DeSantis’ inner circle underestimated how difficult—and costly—it would be to break Trump’s hold on the Republican electorate, who holds a commanding lead and is viewed as the overwhelming frontrunner.
Even in Florida, where DeSantis was re-elected by nearly 20 percentage points just seven months ago, Trump now leads DeSantis by 20 points, according to a poll released last week by Florida Atlantic University.
Phil Cox, a veteran Republican operative who helped manage DeSantis’ 2022 re-election campaign and served as a consultant to Never Back Down before resigning in late May, could reemerge as part of the upheaval.
A source told NBC News that Cox is in Tallahassee for the national finance meeting but that he does not have a formal role in the campaign.
DeSantis has indicated that he is aware that his campaign did not begin as he had hoped, but he has primarily placed the blame on media coverage and other external factors.
In an effort to refocus, his campaign is tripling down on the early states, particularly Iowa, whose nomination contest is now viewed as a crucial benchmark.
If DeSantis wins, the field will shrink, and he will move closer to the desired one-on-one matchup with Trump. Losing the crucial state would likely bolster Trump’s position as the unassailable frontrunner.
A confidential internal memo obtained by NBC News on Friday outlined this assessment and the campaign’s strategy to regain its footing. The memo indicated a significant emphasis on early states where, according to DeSantis’s advisers, Trump’s supporters can be won over.
“Early state voters are only lukewarmly committed to the candidates they select on a ballot question this far out, including a significant number of Trump supporters,” according to the memo. “Even our focus group participants in the early states say they won’t make a decision until they meet the candidates or watch them debate.”
Never Back Down is bolstering these efforts by focusing on both early states and a handful of Super Tuesday states, most notably California, where the organization plans to employ approximately 80 organizers soon.
For some supporters, however, Iowa, Iowa, and Iowa are now the three essentials for DeSantis’ continued viability. “They need to treat it as if it is the only thing that matters right now,” said a DeSantis donor.
If Trump prevails, the election is over. It implies that he must be there frequently. He must engage in as much retail politics as possible.”
The individual stated that Casey DeSantis is a wonderful asset in the retail politics required to win Iowa, but that DeSantis himself must improve.
“He must locate that equipment,” the person stated. “He must find it quickly.”
