Ron DeSantis replaces campaign manager as 2024 bid falters

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has replaced his campaign manager as he struggles to gain traction in his attempt to take down former President Donald Trump in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination.

Campaign Manager Generra Peck will now instead move to the role of chief strategist with James Uthmeier taking on the top post, according to The Messenger.

Mr Uthmeier previously held the position of chief of staff in the governor’s office. The shakeup comes not long after the campaign said that Ms Peck’s position was secure. She was in charge of Mr DeSantis’s successful 2022 reelection campaign in Florida but has been criticised by advisers to the governor as well as donors to the campaign after the campaign began to slow and funding started to run out.

The campaign has had two rounds of staff and expenses cuts and a revamp of his media strategy to make the governor more available to mainstream outlets.

A number of donors and advisers outside the campaign remained unsatisfied, prompting Mr DeSantis to ask Mr Uthmeier last week if he could analyse what issues may be plaguing the campaign and how they may be solved, leading to his hiring as campaign manager.

The campaign doesn’t want to refer to the new moves as a “reboot,” The Messenger notes, preferring the word “reload”.

“People have written Governor DeSantis’s obituary many times,” Mr Uthmeier told the outlet in a statement. “From his race against establishment primary candidate Adam Putnam, to his victory over legacy media-favored candidate Andrew Gillum [in 2018], to his twenty-point win over Charlie Crist [in 2022], Governor DeSantis has proven that he knows how to win. He’s breaking records on fundraising and has a supporting super PAC with $100 million in the bank and an incredible ground game. Get ready.”

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