DeSantis Campaign Moves Staff Out of New Hampshire Before Primary as Never Back Down Lays Off Staff

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign has already begun moving staff members out of New Hampshire to South Carolina days before the Granite State’s first-in-the-nation primary is set to begin.

The governor is expected to step away once again from the state and return to his home state for a ceremony for Florida Supreme Court Justice Meredith Sasso on Jan. 19. The governor is then scheduled to be back in New Hampshire on Jan. 22 and on Jan. 23 for the Tuesday primary.

Campaign staff confirmed that the move to South Carolina is to put further pressure on its former governor, Nikki Haley, assuming a loss in her home state would cause her to drop out, narrowing the field to just him and former President Donald Trump.

“When Nikki Haley fails to win her home state, she’ll be finished, and this will be a two-person race—and her donors are starting to come to the same conclusion,” DeSantis campaign director Andrew Romeo said in a statement.

“While they continue to have buyer’s remorse over backing a bubble-wrapped candidate who can’t beat Trump, we’re wasting no time in taking the fight directly to Haley on her home turf.”

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The move comes after Mr. DeSantis appeared in a CNN Town Hall in New Hampshire, and Ms. Haley backed out of two planned debates with him on CNN and ABC/WMUR. Those events have been canceled due to Ms. Haley’s refusal to participate.

“I’m the only candidate that actually agreed to come to New Hampshire to debate, and what does that say?” he said during the CNN Town Hall on Jan. 16.

“We have four candidates for president now: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and me. I’m the only one who’s not running a basement campaign at this point. You deserve as a voter to have the candidates come up [and] answer your questions in forums like this.”

Mr. DeSantis’ super PAC, Never Back Down, also reportedly issued a large round of layoffs after the Iowa caucuses.

‘Now a Free Agent’

One of the people laid off was George Andrews, state director and precinct operations director for the Iowa caucuses.

“As of 6 a.m. this morning, I learned I am now a free agent due to budget cuts beyond my control,” he posted on LinkedIn on Jan. 17.

“I completely understand why this had to happen, harbor no ill will, and wish my former team great success as they attempt to bring back sanity to our party. What they are trying to accomplish for America is much greater than my termination as an individual employee.”

Mr. Andrews did not comment further to The Epoch Times on the scope of the layoffs.

“With the Iowa caucus over, our historic caucus operation has come to an end,” Never Back Down’s Jessica Szymanski told The Epoch Times. “As planned, NBD has transferred several of the Iowa political staff to other early states, while offering the rest of staff pay through the rest of January.”

Never Back Down held an event for Mr. DeSantis in Greenville, South Carolina, on Jan. 16, and had two town halls planned in Hampton and Derry in New Hampshire. A third town hall was planned for Jackson, New Hampshire, but it was postponed due to unsafe weather conditions.

“Never Back Down continues to host a slew of events on the ground for Gov. DeSantis in South Carolina, New Hampshire, and beyond aligned with our core mission of mobilizing grassroots field operations in those states,” said Never Back Down CEO Scott Wagner in an official statement shared with The Epoch Times.

“We’ve mobilized several members of our robust Iowa team over to the other early primary states to help in these efforts and will continue working to help elect Gov. DeSantis, the most effective conservative leader in the race, our next president.”

The governor is also polling third in South Carolina, averaging 12.1 percent compared to President Trump’s 54.8 percent and Nikki Haley’s 24.9 percent.

New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary is slated on Jan. 23, and South Carolina’s primary is set for Feb. 24.