Jeb Bush is making “aggressive changes” to his presidential campaign structure, according an internal campaign memo, that includes downsizing staff and ordering big spending cuts as part of a plan to reinvigorate his struggling campaign.
Mark Halperin of Bloomberg News first reported on the document outlining the changes.
The spending cuts include reducing payroll costs by 40 percent, with salaries being cut for staffers across the board. The campaign’s national headquarters is being cut, with just 25 percent of staffers remaining in Miami. A majority of staff is being offered the chance to relocate to positions the early primary and caucus states. The campaign is also cutting travel costs by 20 percent and working to cut other overhead costs.
With these changes, the campaign, according to the document, remains confident they will have a well-funded campaign. “We continue to have a strong national finance operation that will ensure Jeb remains competitive by every measure, through the primary and onto victory next November.”
But the campaign, in the memo, also acknowledged they didn’t expect to be down in the polls with Donald Trump as the consistent frontrunner.
“It’s no secret that the contours of this race have changed from what was anticipated at the start,” it said. “We would be less than forthcoming if we said we predicted in June that a reality television star supporting Canadian-style single payer health care and partial-birth abortion would be leading the GOP primary.”
According to Real Clear Politics polling averages, Bush is in fifth place nationally. He is in third place in New Hampshire, sixth place in South Carolina and fourth place in Florida.