Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is cutting his presidential campaign staff by more than one-third, advisers confirmed Tuesday.
“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden,” DeSantis campaign manager Generra Peck said in a statement. “Gov. DeSantis is going to lead the Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign.”
The cuts will amount to a total of 38 jobs across an array of departments, including 10 event planning positions that were announced several weeks ago. Senior DeSantis campaign advisers Dave Abrams and Tucker Obenshain are also being let go.
It’s the second DeSantis campaign staff shake-up in as many weeks. Reports July 17 revealed that the Florida governor was cutting about a dozen people from its then-more than 90 staffers amid concerns that the campaign has been burning through money.
DeSantis has struggled to meet fundraising expectations, though the governor did raise about $20 million in the 2nd quarter of 2023—second highest among GOP candidates after former President Trump.
However, as of last week the DeSantis camp had spent $8 million since he tossed his hat the race in May.
Some staffers will be leaving the campaign but not the broader effort to get DeSantis elected President in 2024. Both Abrams and Obenshain are expected to sign onto an outside pro-DeSantis group.
