(RepublicanDaily.org) – As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to play a very far second fiddle to former president Donald Trump, he is looking to reinvigorate his campaign and make more targeted strategies and deliberate decisions to improve his standing among Republican voters.
DeSantis has his work cut out for him though – the latest polling averages, as compiled by FivethirtyEight, show him with a meager 13.3% approval among GOP voters, as opposed to Trump’s commanding lead of 52.2%. He also needs to be careful to not be overtaken by other rivals like billionaire businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, whose support percentage stands at 7.6%, and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who has 5.8%.
The embattled Florida governor has only just returned to the campaign trail after stepping away for a time to attend to disaster management and response to the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, as well as a mass shooting incident in Jacksonville. His current strategy, it seems, is to focus a lot of time and resources in Iowa.
He is looking to complete a visit to all 99 counties in the state, and his campaign and Never Back Down, the Super PAC supporting him, have put up operational headquarters and offices in Des Moines. Never Back Down has five offices, manned by around 20 staff members. The PAC is also doubling down on investing its financial resources to win over Iowans, spending $16 million on TV ads, is set to plunk down an additional $25 million for advertisements that will focus on Iowa and New Hampshire.
DeSantis’s quest to become the Republican presidential nominee has been fraught with challenges, one of the latest being the loss of several major donors who, despite being historically strong supporters of his gubernatorial bids, have been largely staying away from his campaign. According to a report from news outlet Politico, out of the 50 donors who have donated at least $160,000 to DeSantis’ last gubernatorial campaign, roughly only a third – or 16 donors – have given to Never Back Down, while only eight have donated to the campaign itself. And a number of these donors are also providing funds to other candidates, while the rest feel that DeSantis’ rivals are better deserving of their financial support.
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