


Gov. Ron DeSantis shook up his presidential campaign staff again Tuesday, replacing his campaign manager with his chief of staff in the governor’s office.
Outgoing manager Generra Peck, who shepherded DeSantis through his successful reelection campaign last year, will become chief strategist, The Messenger first reported.
Chief of Staff James Uthmeier will take a “leave of absence” from the governor’s office to manage the DeSantis campaign, office spokesman Jeremy Redfern said. Secretary of Commerce Alex Kelly will become acting chief of staff alongside Senior Advisor David Dewhirst, Redfern said.
Uthmeier is the latest state official to take an important position with the campaign, including spokespeople Bryan Griffin and Christina Pushaw.
The shakeup comes just two weeks after the campaign let go of 38 staffers, including speechwriter Nate Hochman, who reportedly made and boosted a video that included DeSantis superimposed against a Nazi symbol, and director of research Kyle Lamb, who praised the video and said it “belongs in the Smithsonian,” according to Semafor.
The campaign has also attempted to cut costs after burning through more than $30 million, much of which was spent on staff, private planes and travel.
DeSantis has continued his slide in the polls to not only former President Donald Trump, the clear front-runner for the nomination despite multiple indictments, but also his other opponents for the nomination.
A poll from the co/efficient market research service released Monday showed DeSantis tied in New Hampshire for second at 9% with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, with former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley right behind at 7%. Trump led with 43%.
A Kaplan Strategies poll from last month had DeSantis tied for second nationally with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
The DeSantis campaign did not immediately return requests for comment.