Nothing seems to be going right for DeSantis’s Never Back Down super PAC or the consultant managing it, longtime political operative Jeff Roe. According to NBC News, something approaching a shoving match nearly broke out within the PAC’s ranks amid a heated exchange over how to manage the organization’s dwindling resources. PAC-sponsored ads targeting Nikki Haley had to be withdrawn because they were reportedly “backfiring on DeSantis.” The PAC’s board members are complaining about the “objectionable” way in which funds are being spent and transferred to allied groups, and the donors who previously filled its coffers with $200 million are vocally dissatisfied with the lack of “return” on their investment. One stung contributor expressed utter resignation: “You don’t just keep throwing money at Radio Shack.”
Fueled by his declining standing in national polls of Republican primary voters and rumors of sedition within the DeSantis camp’s ranks, the press is cultivating an air of failure around the governor. Iowa governor Kim Reynolds’s endorsement of her colleague from Florida did little to derail that narrative, but that is understandable. Her endorsement is her first foray into competitive caucus politics as governor, and her clout is untested. Moreover, her predecessor, longtime Iowa governor Terry Branstad, declined to back a candidate in the caucuses in 2012 or 2016. There’s no reason to assume that the governor’s opinion has a measurable effect on how Republican voters are evaluating the field of 2024 candidates.
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