DeSantis relocating a third of staff to Iowa after $15 million quarterly haul

Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) presidential campaign is making a big bet on Iowa, where the first in the nation Republican presidential caucuses will take place in January. DeSantis’s team confirmed plans to move one-third of their staff to the pivotal state ahead of the caucuses.

The strategic relocation is fueled by the DeSantis campaign’s third-quarter fundraising haul of $15 million, which it announced Wednesday.

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“About a third of our Tallahassee headquarters staff will be deploying to Iowa in the weeks ahead,” deputy campaign manager David Polyansky said in a statement. “While the campaign will still have a strong presence in Tallahassee, we are redeploying many of our assets so we can further take the fight directly to Donald Trump in Iowa.

“While we continue to be excited about the caucus organizing structure our allies at Never Back Down have built and are growing, we are now in a position to double-down on those efforts by bringing more of our team to Iowa to support the governor as he makes his final push towards victory,” he added.

As the Florida governor attempts to revive his status as the alternative to former President Donald Trump in the Republican primary battle, he is hoping Iowa will serve as a turning point. Though voters are increasingly skeptical that someone can beat Trump in the primary, winning Iowa could convince Republicans that a Trump nomination is not inevitable. Pollsters generally agree that if someone were to beat the former president in the Hawkeye State, it could bolster them going into the early state primaries and give credence to the idea that someone could defeat Trump.

“Donald Trump’s own actions confirm this is a two-man race. After spending months neglecting Iowa, the Trump campaign is now scrambling because they know Ron DeSantis is all that stands between them and victory in the Hawkeye State and beyond,” said DeSantis communications director Andrew Romeo.

At one point, DeSantis’s campaign operation employed more than 90 staffers, but as its early burn rate was revealed in second-quarter data, the team was cut by a third. Now, the campaign includes 56 employees. And one-third of these staffers will be headed to Iowa ahead of the caucuses, where they will live in short-term housing and work out of field offices. The campaign already featured four employees on the ground in Iowa prior to the announcement. The types of employees who will be relocating range from senior political advisers to communications staff.

The $15 million the campaign announced raising Wednesday was brought in through DeSantis’s campaign committee, his leadership PAC, and a joint fundraising committee. According to his campaign, it started the month of October with $13.5 million in cash on hand. But money is still a concern, as just $5 million of that total can be spent during the primary season.

“Anyone that knows Ron DeSantis knows that he is a fighter, a winner, and a leader,” said DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier. “This significant fundraising haul not only provides us with the resources we need in the fight for Iowa and beyond, but it also shuts down the doubters who counted out Ron DeSantis for far too long. Ron DeSantis is the only candidate with the vision to reverse America’s decline and the track record to prove he will get the job done.”

While DeSantis’s polling has been declining since his entrance into the race, his focus on Iowa has shown promise. DeSantis has polled better in the state than he has on a national scale. In one prominent Iowa pollster’s footprint metric, he nearly ties Trump when it comes to consideration Iowans are giving each candidate.

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The campaign has worked to secure a number of endorsements across Iowa, including a conservative radio host, a former Iowa GOP co-chairman, local leaders in counties throughout the state, and members of Iowa’s state legislature. Several coalitions spanning various interests have been rolled out in favor of DeSantis, including one this week called Farmers Never Back Down. Other groups include those made up of parents and faith leaders in the Hawkeye State. The Florida Republican has also committed to visiting all 99 counties in Iowa, which he is more than halfway through. He has challenged Trump to do the same, though the former president has spent significantly less time on the campaign trail.

If a candidate is able to beat Trump in Iowa, strategists believe it could provide the momentum necessary to put the Republican nomination within reach.