Ron DeSantis cuts a third of his presidential campaign staff, with his mind set on an internal restructuring that would allow him to regain the momentum he had a few months ago and get back to upsetting Donald Trump in the polls. The Florida governor had already laid off employees in mid-July and is about to start August, a key month for the debate, with a renewed staff.
The candidate's advisors confirmed the number of total cuts, 38, including the departures of two key people, Dave Abrams and Tucker Obenshain in early July. According to official documents, the candidate's team had 90 employees at the time the departures began.
"We are heading into an important month of the campaign."
"After a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional aggressive steps to optimize operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden," Generra Peck, manager of DeSantis 2024, said in a statement released Tuesday.
"Gov. DeSantis will lead the Great American Comeback and we are ready to begin executing as we head into an important month of the campaign," he added.
The cuts have a lot to do with the financial situation of the campaign. According to financial reports, recently filed with the Federal Election Commission, DeSantis raised $20 million during the second quarter of the year, but has already spent about 40% of the money raised on salaries.
Changes in the team
As reported by Politico, Peck participated in an event in Utah where he acknowledged that they had overspent in some areas, so they would try to reduce costs. In addition to personnel, this will include travel and events.
The campaign has made other internal changes in recent weeks. Ethan Elion, digital director, was named as deputy campaign manager. At the same time, in one of the most high-profile signings, Cody Hall, one of Gov. Brian Kemp's (R-GA) top political advisors, was named as senior communications advisor. Finally, Andrew Romeo, formerly spokesperson, was promoted to director of communications.
