OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:24 AM – Tuesday, July 18, 2023
After spending roughly eight of his $20 million second quarter fundraising haul in the first few weeks of the campaign, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is reducing his campaign staff.
Advertisement
Approximately a dozen of DeSantis’ staff members were let go over the weekend, barely six weeks into the campaign. According to Politico, additional layoffs are anticipated in the upcoming weeks as part of cost-cutting efforts.
DeSantis submitted his Federal Election Commission fundraising report for the second quarter on Saturday. It includes the time from the beginning of his campaign on May 24 to June 30, and it reveals that as of the end of June, he had $12.2 million in cash on hand, $3 million of which could only be used in the general election and not the primary.
One of the highest expenses was $1.3 million for travel, mostly for the use of a private plane. Payroll totaled just over $1 million, with over $800,000 allotted for media exposure, postage, and internet fundraising consultancy.
For each of his three campaigns for Congress, DeSantis used a different campaign team, and his first bid for governor in 2018 saw a notable campaign shakeup.
According to campaign finance reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Saturday, 92 employees were employed by DeSantis’ campaign for at least a portion of the first fundraising period. It is by far the most of any Republican presidential candidate, and it has left his campaign with significant staff costs and, according to the most recent forms, less funding than first anticipated.
The campaign’s top strategists will gather in a national finance committee meeting on Sunday in Tallahassee to discuss how to cut into former President Donald Trump’s huge GOP primary advantage.
According to the Real Clear Politics average of all national GOP presidential primary surveys, Trump now leads DeSantis by 32 percentage points.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Be the first to comment