DeSantis team a little lighter after campaign sheds staff

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) 2024 campaign is reorganizing amid its struggle to meet fundraising expectations — including shedding staff, a campaign spokesperson confirmed to the Hill on Saturday.

The team let go fewer than 10 employees on Thursday, primarily from its event-planning team, as was first reported by Politico. The campaign spokesperson said the decision would help boost the governor’s chances of defeating President Biden if he wins the Republican nomination.

“Americans are rallying behind Ron DeSantis and his plan to reverse Joe Biden’s failures and restore sanity to our nation, and his momentum will only continue as voters see more of him in-person, especially in Iowa,” campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo, who also verified that the staffers were let go, told The Hill in a statement.

“Defeating Joe Biden and the $72 million behind him will require a nimble and candidate driven campaign, and we are building a movement to go the distance,” he added.

DeSantis’s campaign confirmed on Friday that two other key staffers would exit the team and shift to assist a political nonprofit to help boost support for him.

Despite a perceived lag in his campaign efforts, DeSantis managed to raise $20 million in the second quarter after only being in the race for six weeks, according to his Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing. His campaign touted it as the largest filing for a non-incumbent Republican candidate in the first quarter of their candidacy in more than a decade. 

But, the Florida governor continues to place second to former President Trump in Republican primary polling. Trump’s campaign confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that it brought in more than $35 million during the second quarter. 

DeSantis has recently turned his sights on early primary and caucus states, spending the last two days campaigning in Iowa.

“Donald Trump gave us an opening in Iowa this week, and we’re taking it,” Romeo said, according to Politico.

The Hill’s Caroline Vakil contributed to this report.