Head of Ron DeSantis super PAC submits resignation, effective immediately
In yet another blow to Ron DeSantis' seemingly floundering presidential bid, Chris Jankowski, the head of the Never Back Down super PAC formed to support the Florida governor's White House run, has resigned, effective immediately, as Fox News reports.
A well-known, longtime GOP operative, Jankowski announced his decision on Wednesday.
In a statement subsequently issued by the PAC, Jankowski explained, “Never Back Down's main goal and sole focus has been to elect Governor Ron DeSantis as president. Given the current environment, it has become untenable for me to deliver on the shared goal and that goes well beyond a difference of strategic opinion.”
He did, however, add that, “[f]or the future of our country, I support and pray Ron DeSantis is our 47th president.”
CBS News reports that Jankowski's departure comes close on the heels of increased tension between DeSantis campaign leadership figures and the PAC itself.
Things are said to have grown especially heated last week during a meeting at the PAC's Georgia headquarters, when strategies Jeff Roe and prominent DeSantis backer Scott Wagner engaged in a verbal altercation that nearly turned physical.
According to accounts from the scene, the two men had to be restrained once a discussion of the PAC's future direction erupted into a full-blown fight.
For some time now, the DeSantis campaign has pinned its hopes -- and sent the lion's share of its resources -- to Iowa in hopes of capitalizing on the state's early caucus positioning.
That strategy has not been entirely fruitless, as DeSantis did win the endorsement of the state's popular Republican governor, Kim Reynolds earlier this month.
DeSantis also secured the support of influential Christian leader Bob Vander Plaats, someone whose endorsement has carried significant weight in past presidential contests.
Even so, former President Donald Trump still holds a commanding lead in the Hawkeye State, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is working hard to take second place in the GOP nomination stakes going into the heat of the primary season, a position DeSantis cannot afford to lose.
To that end, as the Associated Press notes, Haley is poised to launch a $10 million advertising blitz in New Hampshire and Iowa starting in early December, a move clearly designed to overtake DeSantis' current standing in the race.
The AP cited media tracking outfit AdImpact's analysis of Haley's rumored upcoming spend, with the firm stating that at this point, her outlay would be over five times more substantial than the amount DeSantis has in reserve for use during the same period of time.
In light of Jankowski's departure, unrelenting talk of campaign infighting, and the imminent media onslaught from Haley, the electoral tailwinds DeSantis likely expected due to the Reynolds and Vander Plaats endorsements may prove short-lived for the governor, but only time will tell.