Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is reportedly moving most of his campaign staff to South Carolina ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
With Election Day approaching on January 23rd, one might think that the DeSantis campaign would shift its primary focus to New Hampshire. In fact, presidential candidate DeSantis had a lackluster performance in Iowa, losing about 30 points to former President Donald Trump. However, she still narrowly edged out former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley by about 2 points (less than 3,000 votes).
DeSantis is campaigning in New Hampshire, but is reportedly changing strategy after the debate cancellation and shifting resources to South Carolina even before the Granite State's primary. .
according to CBS News:
The move to shift resources to South Carolina and essentially cancel daily campaigning in the Granite State in the week before the primary election comes after two scheduled debates that Mr. DeSantis admitted to attending in New Hampshire ( CNN and ABC/WMUR) were canceled.
DeSantis' campaign aims to pressure Nikki Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, to win in her home state, and DeSantis' campaign is long-term. He is hinting that he will withdraw from the election campaign. The goal is to turn the Republican race into a “two-person'' race between Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Trump.
“If Nikki Haley doesn't win her home state, she's done, this is a two-person race, and her donors are starting to come to the same conclusion,” a senior DeSantis campaign official told CBS News. ” he said.
“While we continue to experience buyer's remorse for supporting a candidate in a bubble who cannot beat Trump, we are wasting our time taking the fight directly to Haley's home turf.” the official added.
Ironically, after finishing third in the Iowa caucuses, it was Haley who declared it would now be a “two-person race.”
“But if you look at where we are in New Hampshire and South Carolina and other places, it's safe to say tonight that Iowa has made this Republican primary a two-person race,” she said. he said in a speech Monday night.
WATCH: Nikki Haley claims Republican primary is a 'two-person race' after finishing third in Iowa caucuses
sea span
The DeSantis campaign's moves are reminiscent of past failed strategies. In October's campaign, moved About a third of the staff moved to Iowa. As Breitbart News reported:
Three of Mr. DeSantis' top aides at the time — communications director Andrew Romeo, deputy campaign manager David Polianski and national political director Sam Cooper — were deployed to Iowa the following month.according to politikothe DeSantis campaign also set up its headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa.
Notably, the DeSantis campaign initially planned to spend money in New Hampshire, as revealed in a Confidential Update from Friends and Family in the summer of 2023, with DeSantis leading in the polls. It was aimed at reassuring donors as there was no positive movement.
memo said to some extent [emphasis added]:
Ron DeSantis is running a winning campaign everywhere. It would be a mistake to take paid media and field programs off the table for other states. We will not cede New Hampshire. As far as we know, pro-DeSantis efforts are still ongoing. strong efforts in Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire; This includes paid media and fields.
Super Tuesday is very important, We're not going to dedicate resources to Super Tuesday, which will slow our momentum in New Hampshire.. We plan to reconsider this investment in the fall.
Thursday's RealClearPolling (RCP) results showed Trump leading New Hampshire by an average of 13.3 points over DeSantis. collect The average is only 5.8 percentage points. RCP results also showed Trump leading by an average of 30.2 percentage points in South Carolina, with DeSantis leading. arrival She ranked third behind Trump and Haley with an average of 11 points.
