Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign is set to cut over a third of its staff, Politico reported Tuesday.
A total of 38 jobs will be cut, according to the outlet. The layoffs reportedly include 10 event planning jobs and the previously reported exit of campaign advisers Dave Abrams and Tucker Obenshain.
“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. Governor 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,” Campaign Manager Generra Peck said in a statement.
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – JULY 17: Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis departs after delivering remarks at the 2023 Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit on July 17, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. For this year’s summit, CUFI hosted 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate hopefuls to speak amidst other pro-Israel activists . (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The reported cuts come amid a strategy shift from the DeSantis campaign following a dip in the polls. (RELATED: Ron DeSantis Gets In Car Accident)
The Florida governor is currently polling at second place with 18% behind former President Donald Trump, according to Real Clear Politics’s average, down from over 30% in January.
“Team DeSantis has lit tens of millions of dollars on fire. In return, DeSantis has seen a collapse in polling. The people left to suffer are a few dozen low and mid-level staffers. If Ron actually cared about spending the money wisely, he’d refund every dollar he has left and go back to governing Florida, which is what he was elected to do,” Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for Make America Great Again Inc., Trump’s Super PAC, said in a statement in response to DeSantis’ layoffs.