Ron DeSantis, a republican presidential candidate, has replaced his Campaign manager, Generra Peck, in a massive shakeup to revive his presidential effort.
Peck has been replaced by James Uthmeier, who served as DeSantis’ Chief of staff in his gubernatorial office. He will now lead DeSantis presidential bid.
Peck, on the other hand, has been moved to the position of Chief Strategist.
In a statement, DeSantis’ Campaign Communications Director, Andrew Romeo noted, “James Uthmeier has been one of Governor DeSantis’ top advisors for years and he is needed where it matters most: working hand in hand with Generra Peck and the rest of the team to put the governor in the best possible position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden.”
“We are excited about these additions as we continue to spread the governor’s message across the country. It’s time to reverse our nation’s decline and revive America’s future,” he added.
The changes come as DeSantis has failed to make significant traction in the presidential polls. He trails Donald Trump in most public polling.
Also, DeSantis has already laid off nearly one-third of his campaign staff amid financial troubles and is two weeks out from the first Republican primary debate.
Peck, 36, ran DeSantis’ second gubernatorial campaign, seeing him successfully win re-election and earning his trust in the process.
She also worked on Bob McDonnell’s successful 2009 campaign for Virginia Governor. However, she has never ran a presidential campaign and took a lot of the blame for DeSantis’ shaky start.
Uthmeier, 35, also has never ran a presidential campaign but he helped build DeSantis’ brand among conservatives in the state, earning a reputation for being DeSantis’ ‘fixer.’
Uthmeier was first hired as DeSantis’ Chief of staff in Sept. 2021, and has been seen as more in line with DeSantis politically than his first two Chief of staffs, who were veteran of Florida politics and the legislative process and had seen more as political operators rather than culture war crusaders.
David Polyansky Joins Desantis’ Campaign Team
Also, an addition has been made to the DeSantis team.
Joining the team as Deputy Campaign Manager is David Polyansky, an experienced Iowa operative who says that he has never lost a caucus race in the state.
According to Romeo, Polyansky will be a critical addition to the team given his previous experience working in early voting Iowa, which has become a proving ground for the DeSantis campaign.
Polyansky worked on the presidential campaigns of Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker and Texas Senator, Ted Cruz in 2016. In Iowa, he was instrumental in Joni Ernst’s first win election to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and helped Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee win in the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses in 2008.
In recent months, DeSantis has been facing increasing pressure from donors to try another strategy as he continued to drop in the polls and cash was being spent at a faster-than-expected rate.
Dan Eberhart, a prominent Republican donor, suggested that the move was still too tepid given that both Peck and Uthmeier are both simply switching from one senior campaign position to another senior campaign position.
“Governor DeSantis has to change the dynamics. That much is clear. This is a realignment rather than a reset because both folks were already senior advisors.”
Dan Eberhart
The first Republican primary debate is scheduled for August 23, 2023, in Milwaukee.
DeSantis faces a crucial moment as the debate is deemed a key moment for DeSantis to regain some momentum, and try to close the gap with Trump.
