DeSantis super PAC poaches staffers from Koch-backed AFP Action after Haley endorsement

Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R-FL) presidential campaign, has poached at least two people affiliated with Americans for Prosperity Action after the group endorsed former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley late last month.

Two grassroots directors in Iowa working for AFP Action, a network connected to conservative billionaire Charles Koch, defected to Never Back Down due to their disapproval of the Haley endorsement, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to the Washington Examiner. They are now working for the super PAC’s Iowa political team.

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“Never Back Down is happy to welcome these newest members of our growing team, and we look forward to welcoming others who see Nikki Haley as the establishment rubber stamp she is and want to support a real conservative leader — Governor Ron DeSantis,” Noah Jennings, Never Back Down’s Iowa political director, said in a statement.

Dave Vasquez, Never Back Down’s national press secretary, appeared to celebrate the news on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday afternoon.

“Grassroots activists refuse to canvas for the establishment candidate, join the movement to elect @RonDeSantis instead,” he wrote.

AFP Action pushed back against the disapproval of some staffers for the Haley endorsement in a statement.

“This is primary season, and with a grassroots organization as large as AFP Action, it’s not unusual at all to see some individuals move to different campaigns or pursue other opportunities,” an AFP Action official said. “But AFP Action has also heard from a number of people excited about our endorsement and interested in ways they can join our team and help the effort — including people who work on behalf of the same campaigns pushing this narrative. Since our endorsement, we’ve added more than 120 new volunteers and are contacting more voters than before.”

Semafor reported the staff defections Wednesday morning and alleged that biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign has been in talks with some AFP Action staffers to join his team as well.

A source close to Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed to the Washington Examiner that there have been conversations with some AFP Action staffers.

Staffers at the Koch-affiliated group internally and publicly expressed disagreement with the Haley endorsement, arguing that former President Donald Trump’s advantageous lead in the GOP primary signals his inevitable win of the nomination.

Chris Maidment, former director of grassroots operations for AFP Action in New Hampshire, was terminated after he posted a social media thread on Friday disparaging the Haley endorsement: “@NikkiHaley might have momentum, and she may even pull off the impossible and win the nomination, but with @AFPAction‘s endorsement, I’ve lost all faith in @AFPhq.”

“I will never vote for Nikki Haley. Not once. My children deserve better than to be drafted into some war overseas,” he later added.

The handful of staff departures likely represents a minuscule amount of AFP Action’s staff but it does represent the growing tensions among the GOP over which candidate will become the party’s standard-bearer in 2024.

The group claimed that Haley’s campaign momentum could help to defeat President Joe Biden in a presidential election compared to DeSantis, whose campaign and super PAC have faced internal problems in recent weeks. Never Back Down has seen the departure of several top figures, including its second CEO.

“AFP Action is proud to throw our full support behind Nikki Haley, who offers America the opportunity to turn the page on the current political era, to win the Republican primary and defeat Joe Biden next November,” the group wrote in a memo announcing its endorsement of Haley.

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The group is prepared to throw its canvassing and financial muscle behind Haley, who is battling DeSantis for second place and the chief alternative candidate to Trump, ahead of the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses. In South Carolina, one of the first four early nominating states, AFP Action reached out to more than 30,000 GOP primary voters at the doors and on the phone on behalf of Haley.

“Our endorsement means more than just strategic advice. It means thousands of AFP Action activists and grassroots leaders out across the country knocking doors and making phone calls, having valuable one-on-one conversations with voters, with a focus on early primary states,” Emily Seidel, AFP Action senior adviser, said in a press call last month. “And in the coming days, we’ll launch extensive mail, digital, and connected television campaigns to supplement those underground efforts.”