Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis have been the favorites to win the GOP nomination for many months ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
However, with DeSantis experiencing a dip in polling numbers, adjustments have been made within his team.
What Happened: The Florida governor has made another change to his presidential campaign, a move that comes after a shake-up of his staff was previously reported.
Generra Peck, who was the campaign manager for DeSantis, has been replaced. The new campaign manager is James Uthmeier, according to a report from Politico.
Uthmeier has been a member of DeSantis’ team for several years, and he most recently held the position of chief of staff for DeSantis in his role as the governor of Florida.
Peck will now become the chief strategist of the campaign, a source told Politico.
The reshuffling of positions comes after around one-third of staff for the governor's presidential campaign were let go. Despite the cuts, the DeSantis campaign team said that Peck’s job was safe, according to Politico.
The Messenger, which first reported the news of Uthmeier's appointment as campaign manager, received a comment from him on the matter. Uthmeier clarified that the move was not a "reboot" of the campaign, but rather a "reload."
“People have written Governor DeSantis’s obituary many times,” Uthmeier told The Messenger. “From his race against establishment candidate Adam Putnam, to his victory over legacy media-favored candidate Andrew Gillum, to his twenty-point win over Charlie Crist, Governor DeSantis has proven that he knows how to win.”
David Polyansky is also being named as a deputy campaign manager on the DeSantis campaign. According to The Messenger, Polysansky has a record of never losing a Republican presidential primary in the state of Iowa. Polyansky is currently an advisor to Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis political action committee.
Alex Kelley, the current Secretary of Commerce in the state of Florida, will replace Uthmeier as the acting chief of staff for DeSantis.
Peck showed support for the changes in a statement to The Messenger.
“Governor DeSantis is running one of the most aggressive early state campaigns in modern history,” Peck said. “Our organization welcomes the best of the best and James is one of my closest colleagues and friends – we are better for his joining and providing day to day leadership. This team is built to last and built to win.”
Why It’s Important: Uthmeier went on to tell The Messenger that DeSantis is breaking fundraising records and has a political action committee supporting him with “$100 million in the bank.”
“Get ready,” Uthmeier declared.
The new campaign team moves come as DeSantis has seen support in polls drop in recent weeks.
A Morning Consult poll of Republican voters showed that 15% of Republican voters support DeSantis as their choice for the Republican presidential candidate. The 15% marked two weeks in a row that DeSantis has hit new lows in the survey since polling began in December 2022. DeSantis trails Trump by 43 points in the Morning Consult poll.
Betting odds have also shown lower odds for DeSantis to become the next president of the United States. After ranking third for months behind Biden and Trump, DeSantis fell to fifth place with odds of +1200. The drop comes after DeSantis had odds of +450 for several months and was listed among the favorites with odds of +225 in November 2022.
Read Next: Most Popular U.S. Governors: Here's Where Ron DeSantis And Your State Leader Rank
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