Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’s campaign is reportedly cutting its television ad buy in Indiana a day after news surfaced that the Vermont senator is laying off hundreds of campaign staffers, Politico reported.
The campaign will cut about $200,000 from its original buy of $1.2 million in Indiana ahead of the state’s primary on May 3, where there are 83 delegates at stake.
{mosads}Rival Hillary Clinton, who is leading Sanders in the delegate count by a large margin, is reportedly not spending any money on ads in Indiana.
A senior Sanders aide told Politico the campaign cut back because they don’t need as much ad power since Clinton isn’t running any ads.
According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls in Indiana, Clinton and Sanders are in a tight race. Clinton leads by 4 points, 47.7 to 43.7 percent.
On Wednesday, reports surfaced that Sanders was cutting “hundreds of staff members.”
“We have had a very large staff, which was designed to deal with 50 states in this country; 40 of the states are now behind us. So we have had a great staff, great people,” Sanders said.
But the Vermont senator denied that the cuts were the campaign acknowledging that his chances of securing the nomination are decreasing following more primary losses this week to Clinton.
“We want to win as many delegates as we can, so we do not need workers now in states around country,” Sanders told The New York Times.