DES MOINES, Iowa — Three senior members of a super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis left the group on Saturday, the latest sign of instability within the 2024 hopeful’s political operation just six weeks before the Iowa Republican caucuses.
Kristin Davison parted ways with Never Back Down just after she took over leading the group following the departure of CEO Chris Jankowski less than two weeks ago. Also leaving Saturday were communications director Erin Perrine and director of operations Matt Palmisano, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Never Back Down’s internal operations. Davison’s departure was first reported by Politico.
Longtime DeSantis ally Scott Wagner, who had been a member of the group’s board, was named interim CEO and board chairman.
Never Back Down has carried the bulk of DeSantis’ presidential organizing duties and advertising loads since he announced his candidacy in May. The shake-up of its leadership comes as DeSantis is under growing pressure to cut into former President Donald Trump’s huge leads in Iowa and nationally. And more voters and donors are considering backing the campaign of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
DeSantis’ campaign has relied heavily on Never Back Down for basic campaign functions, though the two sides cannot directly coordinate under federal campaign finance rules. Of the 99 counties DeSantis visited in Iowa, he appeared in 92 of them at Never Back Down events, according to the group’s schedule.
Jankowski, who was among those who helped initially conceive of the super PAC’s outsized role, quit on Nov. 22. Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who had been board chairman, left the group on Friday.
Among some of those close to the situation, the rash of departures is seen as an aggressive step by DeSantis’ loyalists to reassert control over Never Back Down.
The super PAC was seeded with more than $80 million from DeSantis’…
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