Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis’s hopes are sinking lower: he has reportedly fired roughly a dozen of his staffers as his campaign remains woefully behind that of his chief rival for the GOP nomination, former President Donald Trump.
Even more staffers are expected to lose their jobs over the next few weeks amid the cost-cutting campaign shakeup, NBC reported.
It was mainly mid-level staffers who were told to pack their things. DeSantis’ camp seems to have determined they may have hired too many staffers too early, despite its impressive $20 million haul after six weeks on the campaign trail, sources told the outlet.
“They never should have brought so many people on, the burn rate was way too high,” one Republican source familiar with the campaign’s strategy said. “People warned the campaign manager but she wanted to hear none of it.”
Campaign manager Generra Peck, who was the brains behind DeSantis’ 2022 gubernatorial reelection campaign, is now in the hot seat, NBC reported.
A Morning Consult national poll released Tuesday, which counts toward the Republican National Committee’s reputable polling requirement, showed Trump commanding a huge lead among all the candidates, with 56% supporting him. DeSantis placed second at 17%.
A donor told the outlet that DeSantis’ campaigns are usually a revolving door of rookie staffers. In his three runs for Congress, he used three different campaign teams and completely revamped his staff in his 2018 run for Florida governor. Even if this is par for the course, DeSantis seems to have been steadily in decline ever since declaring his candidacy.
